Despite a failure to land one of the boxers to challenge for the world title, MTC Sunshine B ox i ng Academy founder and promoter Nestor Tobias said this year would be the year that his stable gets his hands on the highly-rated world title. 

He said this during an interview with New Era Sport, where he shared his plans for the year. The promoter highlighted that this year the plan remains the same, which is to challenge for the highly decorated world title. Tobias said that although his stable couldn’t land the fight, he is confident that this year will be the year that Namibia wins the coveted title again. 

“I have three boxers that are rated in the top 15: Charles Shinima, who is ranked 11 in the welterweight division; F i l l ipus ‘Ene rg y ’ Nghitumbwa, who is ranked 15 in the super bantamweight division; and John Ndjolonimus, who occupies sixth in the super middleweight division. That tells you how much quality we have, and getting them rated in the top 15 is not an easy thing because it requires big investments. So, we have started the year, and training has begun to keep them active while pushing for big fights,” he said. 

In explaining how he plans to achieve the feat, Tobias said, “We are planning to have our very first event very soon; we are just working on finalising the opponents for our boxers. I think the best way to do it is to constantly keep them fighting so that they climb in ranking until we get to challenge them by mandatory,” he added. 

Speaking on his other plans for the year, the award-winning promoter sai d he would be working on getting more boxers rated on the continent and around the world. “We have so many plans for the year, and one of them is to get more boxers in the gym; this is another way of getting them off the streets. 

We believe boxing is an industry, and for us, we have a mandate to provide employment,” he said. 

Tobias has won three world titles with three different boxers, namely Paulus Moses, Paulus Ambunda and Julius Indongo. 

-mkambukwe@nepc. com.na