Ali to face Kachigwada

PAULUS Ali Nuumbembe will face Livingstone Kachigwada of Zimbabwe for the vacant WBO African welterweight title at the Independence Day Triple Header International Boxing Tournament in Windhoek on March 21.

Nuumbembe was originally supposed to fight Ilian Ayvazov of Germany for the title, but the German pulled out after getting the flu.
Nuumbembe’s trainer and promoter Nestor Tobias said they struggled to find a suitable opponent for Nuumbembe, before securing the highly rated Zimbabwean at the last minute.
“It was very tough to find an opponent for Ali. I found another German boy but he was not willing to fight Ali. The WBO sanctioned the fight and gave me the green light to find an African opponent. I then called up the whole of Africa but no one wanted to fight Ali. I then got Pius Dipheko of South Africa who agreed to fight, but at the last minute he pulled out,” he said.
Tobias said he just managed to get Kachigwada to fight for the title after he had agreed to buy him out of another fight.
“Kachigwada was supposed to fight a boxer of Serbia, so I asked him to cancel that contract and fight Ali. He agreed but I had to buy him out and it cost a lot of money,” Tobias said.
According to Tobias, Kachigwada is highly rated and still undefeated after 15 professional fights.
He has already been in action in Namibia and on August 2 last year he gave a great display in Windhoek to knockout Namibia’s Gottlieb Shileka with a barrage of powerful hooks in the second round.
Tobias however said that he was sure Nuumbembe would win the fight.
“Kachigwada is a strong puncher, but we have a plan for him and our aim is to win. But he is a tough opponent and Ali wont get victory on a silver platter – he will have to work for it,” he said.
Tobias said that Nampower would help sponsor the tournament while Windhoek Masjinen Fabrik announced that it would sponsor Nuumbembe in his quest to become a world champion.
“We believe that Ali has what it takes to become a world champion and we are proud to become involved as a sponsor,” said Benedictus Shehama of WMF.
There will be two more African titles up for grabs with an all Namibian affair between Tyson Uushona and Tommy Hango for the Pan African Welterweight title, while Namibia’s Jatoorora Tjingavete will take on Isaac Phonkeni of Zimbabwe for the vacant WBO African lightweight title. There will be a further five fights on the undercard.
– www.namibiasport.com.na