Meroro versus Simon a sham

A PERPLEXING press conference in Windhoek on Wednesday to clear up the controversy surrounding the botched fight between former three-time world champion Harry Simon and Vikapita Meroro raised more questions than answers.

Those involved offered conflicting accounts why the eagerly anticipated fight, which was due to take place in Windhoek on Saturday, fell through.

Simon and the organisers accused the Namibia Professional Boxing and Wrestling Control Board of derailing their plans over personal differences, while Meroro’s camp claimed Simon had “chickened out” and opted for another fight against run-of-the-mill Tanzanian Kaminja Ramadhan Shabani on 28 July.

Simon went as far as calling for the sports minister to “replace” the board as “they are killing boxing in the country”.

According to matchmaker Joseph ‘Smokey’ Hilongwa, the boxing board’s refusal to sanction the fight on grounds of Meroro being unable to meet the 92,7kg requirement two weeks ahead of the showdown was the primary reason for the event being shelved until September.

Hilongwa said Meroro weighed 97kg last week, with Simon presently at 88kg.

He added that the board, which received sanctioning fees 16 days in advance, then gave them the option of replacing Meroro with the Tanzanian, who agreed to fight Simon “on condition that we gave him three weeks to prepare”.

That contest will be fought at 85kg, Simon said.

“If they say I am overweight, they are lying. I’ve never missed my limit. In all my years in boxing, I’ve never heard of pre-weigh-in before a fight. Normally, I can be 10kg over the limit two weeks before a fight, and still make the weight by the time the fight happens,” the 33-year-old former WBO Africa cruiserweight champion argued.

His associate, Nicky Natangwe, added that the Control Board were not to blame, and that Simon’s camp were being economical with the facts.

“These guys are not telling the truth. They knew all along that Meroro was bigger than Harry Simon. We proposed a catchweight fight, but they don’t want. They are giving another guy three weeks to get ready to fight Harry, so why can’t they give us the three weeks?” he asked.

“We are ready. Meroro can lose the extra kilos in three weeks. They invited us for the fight. We are willing to fight. So, what’s the problem?

“They used Meroro’s name to sell a fight that they knew was not going to happen. If that’s not the case, then let them fight us,” Natangwe said.

In turn, Simon, undefeated in 30 fights, said he had a reputation to uphold, and was not running scared of Meroro. He also claims to have risked his reputation in agreeing to fight Meroro, who was knocked out in his last three fights.

Moving up to 94kg was not an option as that would make him “fat” and “disappoint fans”, Simon said.

Simon’s new rival has faced no noteworthy opponent during his 20 fights, eight of which have ended in defeat. Incidentally, Shabani’s only international foray ended in a first-round knock-out by Zimbabwean Chamunorwa Gonorenda in a World Boxing Federation African cruiserweight title fight in August last year.

“Everyone knows that I am a far better fighter than Meroro. My record speaks for itself. I sold my pride to fight a local boxer. There is no way Meroro can beat me,” Simon bragged.

Hilongwa said fans who had purchased tickets could exercise one of three options: to use them for the 28 July event; keep them for September when the Meroro/Simon fight might take place; or claim a refund.

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