Energy faces tough challenge

Philippus ‘Energy’ Nghitumbwa faces one of his toughest challenges to date when he takes on Mxolisi Zuma of South Africa for the vacant WBO Global super bantamweight title at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday.

Mxolisi only started fighting less than three years ago but has made rapid progress up the ranks and is currently unbeaten after 10 professional fights. In the process, he has climbed to the top of the South African super bantamweight rankings, while he has also won two titles – the WBF Intercontinental super bantamweight title as well as the African Boxing Union super bantamweight title – along the way.

Nghitumbwa, on the other hand, is the WBO Africa super bantamweight champion with a record of 16 wins, of which 14 came via knockout, and two defeats.

Promoter Nestor Tobias said it will be a world-class fight between two top boxers.

“It’s a big fight for both boxers; it’s Namibia versus South Africa, and it’s number one versus number two in Africa. It’s a big fight for my promotions, it’s a big fight for the two countries, and it’s a big fight for the world because this is for a global title. Not just anyone can fight for it; you have to qualify to fight for it, and these two boxers have qualified because of their outstanding records,” he said.

“Every boxer wants to become a world champion, but you can only become a world champion if you fight against the best, to get the best out of them, and that’s what we’re going to do. The winner will get a high world rating, at least in the top five, which will make him a mandatory challenger for the world title, so this fight is very important, and me as a promoter, I’m very excited,” he added.

Zuma said he was grateful for the opportunity to fight someone of Nghitumbwa’s calibre.

“I’ve won all my 10 fights, so that means that I’m working hard in the gym. I accepted this fight because I want to fight the best, and Mr. Energy is one of the best on our continent, so I accepted this fight because I want to get more experience and more fights against the big guns. I took this opportunity so that we can see who’s the best in the division on the continent. I’d like to thank the promoter for giving me this opportunity to come here and fight Mr Energy,” he said.

Nghitumbwa said he was looking forward to the fight. 

“It’s going to be a good fight, and I’m happy because I like to be challenged. I like to fight the big guys with good records. I’m tired of fighting these small boys; I like to fight the big guys like him. They keep me working hard in the gym,” he said.

“We are ready for him, and we will make sure that we win on Saturday. I want to thank Zuma for coming, but I hope that he is ready because if he’s not ready, he will go down early,” he added.

There will be 10 other fights on the undercard featuring some well-known Namibian boxers like Fredrick Nghutenanye, Nestor Thomas and Martin Mukungu, and other up-and-coming fighters.

The action starts at 19:00, while the tickets are N$200 for general tickets or N$20 000 for VIP wine and dine tables seating 10 people.

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