2017-11-15Staff Report 2 Otniel Hembapu Windhoek-Despite mounting rumors about a deteriorating relationship with his father and family members strongly objecting to him from having any ties with promoter Nestor Tobias, Namibia’s highly talented young boxing star Harry Simon Jnr has rubbished such assumptions and maintained he is in the best space of his career. In a brief interview with New Era Sport, Simon Jnr, the son of Namibia’s boxing legend and first-ever two-time former world boxing champion Harry ‘The Terminator’ Simon, made use of the time to dispel some of the rumours and myths doing the rounds and put matters into perspective. Simon Jnr, who made his professional debut in May and has since convincingly won all his three last fights, currently boasts a record of three wins from three bouts and says he wants to continue on an upward trajectory – something he insist can only be achieved with the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing and Fitness Academy. Touching on his relationship with his legendary father and family members who are rumoured to be meddling with his career decisions, the 19-year-old boxer said he was disheartened to notice that there were people with ill intentions trying to come between him and his father. “My father is my hero and I look up to him for guidance and personal growth as a man and as a boxer. I’m really disappointed to note that there are people out there spreading rumours that all is not well between me and my father. “When I joined the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing and Fitness Academy of Nestor Tobias, it was strictly a move aimed at bolstering my career and associating myself with people that I felt are capable of helping me out career-wise,” elaborated Simon Jnr. He went on to say: “I was not forced to join Nestor’s camp and nor was I bribed, my move was strictly on merit. Like I said, the Harry Simon the people are talking about is my father and if there is any concern about me joining forces with Nestor, we will sit down and discuss it as father and son and mutually pave the way forward, but people spreading lies that we (he and his father) are not talking, should stop. It’s not true at all. I love my dad, I respect my dad and he is my hero.” Shedding more light on his relationship with Namibia’s multiple award-winning boxing promoter Nestor Tobias, Simon Jnr said joining forces with the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing and Fitness Academy was a wise decision. “They have the best connections worldwide, they have highly experienced coaches and good structures in place, plus I also get to learn, train and draw inspiration from former world champions every day. They accorded me good accommodation and all other aspects are in place for me to succeed.” Currently fighting as a lightweight, Simon Jnr entered the professional ranks as a super lightweight fighter and bagged his first two victories fighting in that division. Before turning professional, the young boxer dominated the local scene in the amateur ranks, having gone on to accumulate a total of 31 fights at amateur level. On his future plans with Tobias, Simon Jnr said he wants to become the first Namibian pugilist to claim a WBC world title and hopefully go on to defend the title more than five times. “Obviously being the son of Harry Simon comes with a lot of pressure and expectations from the general public, but I’m ready for the task at hand, because this is what I signed up for. Personally, I want to create my own destiny, so that I achieve more and go a step further. “I want to make my father proud, because he has paved the way for me and many other youngsters, so it’s now up to us to put in the required hard work and dedication in order to succeed,” concluded the soft-spoken youngster. On his part, Tobias quashed any talk of beef between him and Simon Snr, saying they come a long way from their amateur boxing days and moved on to work together at the then CDM (Consolidated Diamond Mines) at Oranjemund, now Namdeb. “Harry is my brother and will always remain a brother to me. I have also heard about the rumours, but we as an academy strive to produce the next world champions for Namibia and Harry’s son (Simon Jnr) has the potential and the heart to become a world champion, so why not give the boy an opportunity to realise his dreams? “I mean, what bad intentions would I have with the Simon Jnr’s career and why would I invest my time and money in him if my intentions are bad? Simon Snr is my brother and we come a long way, as I said, but this is not about us, it’s about helping the boy realise his dreams,” said Tobias, who was recently crowned WBO African Promoter of the Year 2017. 2017-11-15Staff Report 2
