2016-06-28Staff Report 2 Windhoek Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas is headed for the bigger stage after the Namibian boxer managed to carve himself a top-15 place on the latest World Boxing Organisation (WBO) rankings, for the first time in his career. Lukas now holds a record three African belts from three different sanctioning bodies. He is the former IBF featherweight African champion and the current WBA Pan African and WBO interim Africa featherweight champion. He maintains an impressive unbeaten record in the very competitive featherweight class, boasting 17 clean victories from the same number of fights. Lukas is soon expected to get a top-10 world rating in the WBA when their world ratings are out for June. “I am happy for Sakaria – he is disciplined, works hard, and now it is paying off. He is our prospect, and I have no doubt that he will make a name for himself in the world of boxing with a big fight very soon. We have worked hard to get him in the top-15 world ratings. This is a competitive weight class and to be rated in the top 15 creates opportunities. We will patiently work our way up the rankings, and we know it will not be easy, but that’s the price you have to pay in boxing, being patient and consistent, and importantly to keep on winning fights,” said promoter Nestor Tobias. Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo slightly moved down from 3rd to 4th place but is expected to move back up after his upcoming fight. Julius is still in the top 4, which is a very good position to be in. Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala remains at number 5 despite having his last fight against South Africa’s Klaas Mboyane cancelled. “The new WBO international flyweight champion, Japhet Uutoni, was snubbed from a rating despite holding an international title. This was purely an error but we have alerted the authorities and it now reflects on the Boxrec website. He will definitely be in the top 10 in the July ratings,” said Tobias. Former WBO bantamweight world champion and IBF super bantamweight world champion, Paulus Ambunda, maintains a very high and respectable Boxrec rating of number 12 in the world overall and will soon bounce back with a fight. Former world champion Paulus ‘Hitman’ Moses and current WBO Africa welterweight champion, Sacky ‘Izinyoka’ Shikukutu are also both expected back in the rating in the coming months. 2016-06-28Staff Report 2
