The After School Centre in Katutura was packed on Saturday as about 30 young boxers battled it out for honours at a development tournament organised by the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing Academy.
Most of the boxers were from clubs in the Khomas region like the Nestor Sunshine Boxing Academy, the Namibian Police and Namibian Defence Force, the After School Centre, Biza-7 and Black Diamond Boxing Club, but boxers from the Legends Boxing Academy at Rehoboth, as well as from the Otjozondjupa region also competed.
Nestor Tobias of the MTC Nestor Sunshine Boxing Academy on Saturday said there was some great talent on display.
“We must have development programmes to maintain the standard of boxing in Namibia and this is what we are doing – we’ve been doing it for many years now. We’ve got a lot of talent in Namibia, I saw some guys who I never saw before, who put up some great fights, so it’s a good programme for Namibian boxing,” he said.
“Most of the boxers are from Khomas clubs and from the Legends Boxing Academy from Rehoboth, while we also invited a few boxers from Otjozondjupa,” he added.
Tobias thanked the Namibia Boxing Federation and the Khomas Boxing Federation for organising the event, adding that more development tournaments need to be held in future.
“We need to hold these development tournaments every week because there are a lot of boxers, and they cannot fight on the same night. It’s not expensive so I think if we can work together with the Namibian government and the Namibian Sports Commission, we can produce more tournaments like this one,” he said.
In the main fight of the evening, top Namibian amateur Tryagain Ndevelo of Biza-7 comfortably beat King Shilongo on points over three rounds in the 63.5kg category.
Ndevelo has represented Namibia at international events like the Commonwealth Games, and last year won a gold medal in the featherweight category at the African Boxing Championshiops in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, after beating Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale in the final.
Tobias said boxing needs more assistance to meet the growing demand.
“The children are hungry to learn but they need more competition. Our officials and coaches are also working very hard to develop boxing. The coach of Black Diamond Boxing Club, Lukas Nghikembwa, doesn’t even have a gym, they just train in a ring out in the open air, but the boxers are committed and some of our up and coming professional boxers like Jonathan Kasheeta also train there,” he said.
There were also a few female boxers in action, while it was noticeable that a lot of the referees and officials were females.
“About 70% of the officials and medical staff were females, so it shows that boxing is for all and it can bring everyone together,” Tobias said.
The results of the event were as follows:
Ndevelo beat Shilongo in a senior 63.5kg fight
Jonas Shiwaohamba beat Micheal Simion in a senior 51kg fight
Mike Junior beat David Marius in a senior 60kg fight
Samuel Charles beat Dishishi Shikongo in a senior 60kg fight
Paulus Shayende beat Lamecki Paulus in a senior 60kg fight
Fillemon Jonas beat Johannes Endjala in a senior 48kg fight
Rebelo Doeseb beat Geoffrey Mwatevi in a senior 48kg fight
Kalenga Abraham beat Panduleni Elago in a youth 39kg fight
Nestor Yatileni beat Shangeta Shihafeni in a youth 54kg fight
Henock Elango beat Roberto Matlata in a senior 54kg fight
Paulus Teofelus beat Jeremia Shonyeka in a senior 54kg fight
Abdillahi Nsabimama beat Hayn Lee-Verne in a youth 57kg fight
Magdalena Nuuyoma beat Hambeleleni Mbishi in a youth 75kg fight
Ndinonya Simon beat Onesmus Lucas in a senior 63.5kg fight
Gad Naka beat Petrus Mbandi in a senior 63.5kg fight
Junior Muramba beat Bock Rodriques in a cadet 39kg fight.
In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.
The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.
Stay informed with The Namibian – your source for credible journalism. Get in-depth reporting and opinions for
only N$85 a month. Invest in journalism, invest in democracy –
Subscribe Now!
