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Home / Hitman, Desert Storm edge closer to world glory ... as Nakathila returns
Hitman, Desert Storm edge closer to world glory ... as Nakathila returns
2017-09-26Staff Report 2 Staff Reporter Windhoek-Namibia’s veteran pugilist Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses and Lukas ‘Desert Storm’ Sakaria impressively soared into the top 3 of the latest WBO world ratings for the month of September. Moses was ranked No. 4 in August while Lukas was ranked No. 5. “The No. 3 position is a great spot because one of two things can happen. Usually the sanctioning body will allow the No. 1 and 2 or even 3 to fight for a final eliminator, or the current champion can pick the highest ranked fighter for a voluntary title defence,” explained promoter Nestor Tobias. In the case of the lightweight division, British champion Terry Flanagan is injured and talks are that he might move up a weight class, which will leave Moses and Beltran to fight for the vacant title. If Flanagan makes no move, the most likely thing would be for Moses vs Raymundo Beltrán to fight for a final eliminator as No. 2 Roman Andreev of Russia is scheduled to fight for the IBF eliminator in December. Things therefore look very positive for Moses in the lightweight division with both those possibilities. In the featherweight division, Mexican world champion Óscar Valdez recently defeated Philippines’ Genesis Servania in his voluntary title defence fight and must make his mandatory title defence next. Lukas and Philippines’ Mark Magsayo, who are respectively ranked No. 2 and No. 3, are the likely next contenders as top ranked America’s Joseph Diaz has now been declared the mandatory challenger for the WBC title, following his recent victory to set up a world title fight against WBC world champion Gary Russell Jr of America. Meanwhile, Walter ‘The Executioner’ Kautondokwa maintains his rating at No. 7 in the WBO middleweight division. He will step into the ring in October to defend his WBO Africa middleweight title. Jeremiah ‘No Respect’ Nakathila has shown other junior lightweight division contenders no respect by welcoming himself back into the WBO ratings and firmly taking up the No. 9 position. He remains one of Namibia’s most promising prospects and an exciting talent to watch for the future. Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo, who recently lost to America’s Terence Crawford in their full world title unification fight, remains highly rated by the top three sanctioning bodies. The WBA ranks him 6th, the IBF places him 8th and WBC scored him at 11th place and he is also expected back in the WBO ratings by next month. Indongo, Lukas, Nakathila, Kautondokwa and Moses are the only Namibian boxers ranked in the world right now. “I am extremely happy with the ratings because serious boxing is all about ratings – if you are not in there nobody will take you seriously. In October the plan is to get one more boxer in the form of Mike Shonena in the WBO welterweight ratings. Shonena will be stepping into the ring in October to challenge for the vacant WBO Africa welterweight title. He is a strong and powerful puncher and one for the future,” said Tobias. 2017-09-26Staff Report 2
