MIGUEL Acosta knocked out Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses to claim the WBA World Lightweight title in Windhoek on Saturday.
The Venezuelan champion kept true to his pre-match tout as he caught a hapless Moses square on the chin with a firm right hook to send him to the canvas in the sixth round, and sent shockwaves down the spines of the expectant Namibian nation. A dazed Moses was counted out and tasted defeat for the first time in his professional career. Having bossed proceedings from the onset, Acosta could not have anticipated an easier world title bout as his opponent hardly put up a fight. In fact, ‘The Hitman’ appeared overcome by the occasion and never really recovered from his challenger’s early onslaught. Acosta landed punches at will as Moses cowered into the corners and sought refuge from the ropes. Moses’s strategy of waiting to land big punches failed him as Acosta worked the ring flawlessly. Central to Acosta’s victory was a constant combination of hefty body shots coupled with a flurry of headshots that penetrated his opponent’s defence and put paid to The Hitman’s title credentials.Moses ignored his corner’s instructions to keep moving and throw his usually lethal jab as he adopted a defensive approach to the fight, which made it easy for Acosta to pick his spot and eventually knock him out.An emotional Acosta and his jubilant corner rejoiced his conquering feat with the handful Venezuelans that had attended the bout at the OK parking lot at the end of the fight, while hundreds of Moses followers’ poured out of the venue and headed home. Despite his stroll to the title Acosta still acknowledged his rival as a tough opponent who had a ‘bad night’ and was willing to give him a chance to reclaim the title.’I fought with a great warrior even though he lost. He’s still a good fighter,’ said Acosta’I am ready to give him a rematch because he’s a good fighter. It is a matter of my promoter fixing the arrangements for this to happen.’’Something went wrong and that’s why I lost,’ said the former champion Moses. ‘One must lose and one must win.’’For me, The Hitman and the nation it was not a good night,’ said Moses’ trainer and promoter Nestor ‘Sunshine’ Tobias after the fight.With regard to the rematch, Tobias said: ‘If the champ is ready then why should we refuse?’However he added that his fighter needed some time to recuperate and get back to his best. In the meantime Tobias might have another potential world champion in Tyson Uushona, who successfully defended his WBO African welterweight title when he defeated the tough Philip Kotey of Ghana on points over 12 rounds. Despite being docked points for a low blow early in the fight, Uushona was superior throughout and enhanced his reputation as the next best thing in Namibian boxing. Also in action was the impressive Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda, who outclassed Sipho Nkadimeng of South Africa in their bantamweight non-title fight. Ambunda punished and bloodied his opponent who held on for the whole eight rounds. In other results, Julius Indongo beat Samuel Kapapu on a unanimous points decision in a lightweight fight over four rounds, and the ever-improving Immanuel Naidjala beat Tinashe Mutota of Zimbabwe with a second-round knockout in the bantamweight category.In another lightweight fight over four rounds, Peter Malakia beat Lawrence Moyo of Zimbabwe on a majority points decision. Abnerk Shindjuu recorded a fourth-round knockout against Juma Fundi of Tanzania in a flyweight Commonwealth title eliminator.
