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Home / Indongo in historic fight against Prograis…live broadcast on NBC
Indongo in historic fight against Prograis…live broadcast on NBC
2018-03-09Staff Report 2 Otniel Hembapu Windhoek-Namibia’s former triple world champion Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo will tomorrow early morning face undefeated American opponent Regis Prograis for the vacant interim WBC super lightweight world title in Deadwood, South Dakota, USA. The fight will be televised live on NBC at 03h00 Saturday. The fight provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Indongo to redeem himself and hopefully reclaim his rightful place in the international boxing arena. However, it will equally be a challenging task for the 35-year-old Namibian pugilist, as he faces a tough, undefeated young hard puncher, who is determined to earn his place under the sun. While odds appear in favour of the 29-year-old Prograis – especially judging from the range of opinions of international boxing pundits and media – one thing for sure is that Indongo can fight and he has the heart to confront any opponent, any day in any arena in the world. Indongo has a devastating left hand, which lands from awkward angles on the counter and boasts a longer reach, which makes it easier for him to calmly suck the venom out of his opponents. Prograis, on the other hand, is not your point-scoring, dancing-around, defensive fighter – he is a prowler, an attacker and always on the offence. After closely studying the videos of Prograis’ last few fights, one would be forced to advise Indongo to expect nothing but a dirty dogfight from the stocky American. But if the highly experienced Indongo is to tame Prograis, he will have to make unusual moves; he will need to be explosive, unorthodox and most importantly, make sure he gives as good as he gets from Prograis by making it an ugly, messy fight – but also not to get caught up in the moment and become reckless. Tonight, or in the wee hours of Saturday morning, depending on which part of the world you are, Indongo who is a former IBF, WBA unified champion, will be expected to invigorate and prove to the world why he remains one of the best lightweights. In 2016, Indongo travelled to Moscow, Russia, to dethrone IBF Junior Welterweight Champion, Eduard Troyanovsky, with a stunning first-round knockout. In his first defence as champion, Indongo travelled to Glasgow, Scotland, for a unification bout with WBA Champion, Ricky Burns, and won a 12-round unanimous decision to become a unified champion. In his first bout as a unified titleholder, Indongo made his US debut against fellow undefeated and unified champion Terence Crawford in a showdown to determine the undisputed champion of the lightweight division. It was the first championship bout with all four major world titles at stake since Jermain Taylor dethroned Bernard Hopkins in 2005. Indongo lost to Crawford, suffering the only defeat of his professional career. “I’m very excited to fight Prograis. This is a great opportunity for me towards becoming a world champion again. I know how good Prograis is, but tonight I’ll be victorious,” said Indongo. –Additional info: BoxingScene.com 2018-03-09Staff Report 2
