Hitman to face Assassin

NAMIBIA’S boxing world champion, Paulus ‘Hitman’ Moses, will go up in one of his toughest fights of his career when he faces the experienced Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera next month.

Moses, who is the current WBA world lightweight champion, comes up against Barrera for his title defence in Los Angeles in December.Yesterday, his promoter, trainer and manager, Nestor Tobias, confirmed that the fight is on and will be held in the US as it is promoted by legendary boxing promoter Don King.Tobias said Moses would be preparing for possibly the biggest fight of his life when he takes on five opponents in exhibition fights in Windhoek on November 21.But Moses has his eyes set on defending the title and told journalists yesterday that despite Barrera’s impressive record, he is determined to defend his title successfully.’I know that Barrera has beaten many opponents. But he has not fought me yet. The fight to me won’t be a problem because I know that he won’t beat me,’ said a confident Moses. Barrera is a seven-time world champion in three different weight classes and is ranked 43rd on ESPN’s 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time.Barrera is now 35 years old and has fought a total of 72 fights, of which he has won an impressive 65 – 43 of them with knockouts.That leaves the Mexican, who is also known as te ‘Baby-faced Assassin’, with only 7 losses.He has fought great contenders such as the devastating Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, Rocky Juarez, Juan Manuel Maquez, Paulie Ayala and Mzonke Fana.BEST IN THE WORLD Moses, a world champion at age 31, is by far the best boxer Namibia has produced in recent years and boasts with an undefeated record of 25 fights with 17 knockouts.He won the WBA world lightweight title by defeating Yusuke Kobori on points in Japan on January 3 this year and successfully defended the title against another Japanese, Takehiro Shimada, by unanimous decision on July 25.The Barrera fight will be the highlight of Moses’ career.Born in Okapya and weighing 72 kilograms, Moses has proven that he can compete against any boxer on the international boxing arena.Moses has fought most of his fights in Namibia and South Africa, but also had bouts in Europe in countries such as Ukraine, before he picked up his first world title in Japan.The Namibian says he has not rested a day since he won his title earlier this year and is consistently in the gym or on the road, where he logs at least 50 kilometres a week.He is an inspiration to many of his boxing colleagues and is rated highly by boxers in Africa and the world, while he is among the leading ambassadors for his country. Moses is the next best thing for Namibia since the retirement of track legend Frank Fredericks. corry@namibian.com.na