Maqonda Ndlovu
One of Namibia’s top boxing prospects Harry Simon Junior, feels hard done by the officiating at the recent boxing tournament in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he lost to Issa Aliyah Phiri via unanimous decision.
Speaking to New Era Sport on his return from Zimbabwe, Simon said he was happy with the way he performed.
“I am happy with my speed; I am happy with my fitness. I am happy that I had an opponent who was there to fight. As far as I am concerned, I did everything I had to do to win. I did everything right,” Simon said.
However, he regrets the outcome of the fight, saying had he known that it was going to be controversial, he would not have fought.
Simon says he believes he won the fight fair and square despite the three Zimbabwean judges scoring 59-55 in favour of Phiri.
“They used me as a scapegoat. They changed my opponent three or four times. I was not supposed to be the main fight, but that is not an excuse. I am going back to the gym to work hard and prove them wrong,” a fuming Simon said. Simon was fighting in Zimbabwe just two weeks after he fought in India, but he refused to attribute his defeat to fatigue. “My fight in India had nothing to do with my performance; I did well in Zimbabwe. I was not fatigued or anything. I won that fight, and we already appealed to the Zimbabwe Boxing Commission. So hopefully we will get a response soon,” he said. He questioned the scoring by the judges, saying, ‘how do all the judges have it 59-55, meaning I only won one round? It does not make any sense’. “That means it was not a close fight. Plus, all the officials on that bill, including the referee, were Zimbabweans, and I was sacrificed in daylight by them. We are appealing, so this result gets thrown away and gets called a non-contest, or two neutral judges review the full fight video and score it,” he said. However, the Namibian said the defeat has not affected him the way he thought it would, saying the truth is out there for anyone to see.
The son of former World Champion Harry Simon senior says he still sees himself as undefeated, adding that he will fight three to four times before the year ends.
On the way forward, Simon said he is going back to the gym immediately to prepare even harder and make sure that his fights end with a knockout to avoid drama.
“This was an eye-opener; beating someone clean is not enough anymore. Now I will go and work on making them sleep in the ring. I am going to work on power. I am going to be very explosive in my next two fights moving forward,” he said. This defeat leaves Simon with 20 victories and one loss. Meanwhile, five boxers from MTC Nestor Sunshine Promotions all returned with victories from the same event in Zimbabwe.
Sebastian Nathanael defeated Peter Pambeni on points over six rounds, while Nestor Amukoto won via technical knockout (TKO) against Blessing Kachigwada in round 1. Mateus Heita knocked out Bongani Makarova in the second round, while Onesmus Nekundi maintained the momentum with a knockout victory over Tatenda Biningu in round five.
Finally, Alfeus Mosquito Shaanika won on points against Philip Musairi.