There will be no room for schoolboy errors for Namibia’s former triple world champion Julius “Blue Machine” Indongo when he squares against Kazakh opponent Daniyar Yeleussinov for the vacant IBF inter-continental welterweight title at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida.

Indongo, a former WBA, IBF and IBO unified light welterweight world champion, will face two-time Olympian Yeleussinov tonight (Saturday morning at 04h00 Namibian time) in one of his biggest fights to date and a possible victory will see him edge closer to a return to his former glory days.

The 29-year-old Yeleussinov, who turned professional two years ago, is a rising boxing star and has represented Kazakhstan at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, winning a gold at the 2016 Rio Games. He is popularly known as the “Kazakh Thunder” for his punching power and impressive speed.

Indongo, aged 37, is coming off a 15-month layoff since stopping Carltavius Jones Johnson in the second round in August last year and that was the Namibian’s first fight since being stopped in consecutive fights against Terence Crawford and Regis Prograis in 2017 and 2018.

Indongo took pole position on the global boxing arena when he stopped Russia’s Eduard Troyanovsky in the first round to capture the IBF/IBO light welterweight titles in December 2016. He then went on to outfox British veteran Ricky Burns by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision in April 2017 to add the coveted WBA title to his trophy cabinet.
Indongo will tonight try and pick up the broken pieces of yesteryears’ career by defeating the much younger and experienced Yeleussinov with the aim of staying in line for bigger title shots in the near future. 

Prior to tonight’s bout, one of Indongo’s trainers Imms Moses said; “This is a do or die fight for Indongo to get back in the mix. He is facing a young prospect with a good amateur record and who is a former Olympian, just like Indongo when he was coming up. Indongo had a great training camp and he is in great shape and ready to put up a great performance to bring the belt home.” The fight will be shown live on DAZN. 
 –ohembapu@nepc.com.na