Namibia’s World Boxing Organisation (WBO) global junior lightweight champion Jeremiah “Lowkey” Nakathila on Saturday relied on his speed and power to dismantle a helpless Immanuel Andeleki during their 8-round junior welterweight bout.
The Nakathila/Andeleki fight was the main bout of the “Together as One” Boxing Bonanza held by the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing & Fitness Academy at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday. The bonanza also marked the return of boxing action in the capital after months of inactivity due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
From the opening bell of their much-hyped fight, Nakathila dominated the bout with his power, aggression and well-timed speed, which left a clearly vulnerable Andeleki running for safety for the better part of the opening round. Although Andeleki showed some great footwork and superb body movement in the first round, he could not keep up with Nakathila’s solid left jab and cutting right hand, which kept pushing him against the ropes many a time – leaving room for Nakathila to finish the first round strong and high on confidence.
The second commenced in similar fashion, with Nakathila dictating the pace of the fight with powerful combinations and great body shots, which continuously forced Andeleki to back paddle from the many exchanges. It was midway through the second round that Nakathila stopped Andeleki with a great combination of body shots and straight jabs that forced Andeleki to surrender.
Nakathila claimed the night with a knockout victory over Andeleki and extended his winning streak to 20 wins from a total 21 fights. Meanwhile, the defeat saw Andeleki dropping his record to 7 losses and 8 wins from 15 professional fights.
In the main supporting bout, Mikka Shonena was stretched to the limit by a stubborn Mendu Kaangundue in a fight that saw great exchanges between the two pugilists but Shonena’s persistence paid off in the end as he earned a unanimous win over Kaangundue after six rounds of blood and sweat during their welterweight fight.
Also in action was Harry Simon Jr, who remained on course with a splendid performance against Rafael Iita, which saw the Walvis Bay inborn young fighter scoring a unanimous win over Iita. Meanwhile, Phillipus Nghitumbwa defeated Martin Mukungu and Charles Shinima scored victory against Steven Shimbonde.
Phillipus Nghitumbwa, Michael Bernard, Usko Rehebiam, Charles Shinima, Sam Mathew, Phillipus Shaanika, Abed Shikongo and Sebastian Nathaniel all won their respective fights to extend their records, while Michael Bernard drew against Frans Naanda and Paulus Amavila drew against Elson Kalus.
Speaking to New Era Sport on fight night, promoter Nestor Tobias expressed satisfaction with the quality of the fights and the overall performances of all fighters, saying it was encouraging seeing the boxers in action after so many months without fighting.
“I am pleased to have successfully hosted this event, you can see all these boxers have not fought for a long time but the performance was great. It’s a good thing to see most of them back to the ring. Moving forward I’m looking forward to bringing bigger and better fighters to the country to challenge boxers like Nakathila, Shonena and Simon Jnr among others,” said Tobias.
–mkambukwe@nepc.com.na