Abed Shikongo won the battle of the unbeaten welterweights when he beat Alfeus Shaanika on a sixth round technical knockout to become the WBA Pan African welterweight champion on Saturday night .
Going into the fight, Shikongo had remained unbeaten for nine fights, while Shaanika had a winning streak of eight fights.
The fight was hyped-up by top Namibian promoters Nestor Tobias and Kiriata Kamanya in opposing camps, with Tobias in Shaanika’s corner and Kamanya in Shikongo’s corner.
The fight lived up to its billing as both fighters gave their all in a battle with the momentum swaying back and forth throughout.
After a cagey first round the fight exploded into action in the second round, when Shaanika rocked Shikongo with some big shots, but Shikongo recovered to finish the round strongly.
In the third round, Shikongo trapped Shaanika in a corner and laid in with some big blows to the head and body, but Shaanika recovered, and with his longer reach, landed some effective jabs.
By the sixth round, Shikongo sent Shaanika to the canvas with a powerful right and, although Shaanika beat the count, the end was near.
An elated Kamanya of MTC Salute Boxing Academy, which presented the bonanza, said it was a victory for Namibian boxing.
“I told my brother Nestor (Tobias) that this belt belongs to both stables. It’s also for Namibia, and that’s why we chose this fight – so that Namibians could fight for the African title,” he said.
“Tonight, I’m so happy and I want to thank all of you who supported us tonight. I salute you guys, and I want to thank our main sponsor MTC, please keep on doing this. We want to get more corporates to come on board. Desmond Amunyela, you must come on board, Paragon Investments, we need N$10 million to support boxing,” he said.
In the main supporting bout, Natanael Kakololo beat Hedison Nghipondoka on a majority points decision in another thriller over eight rounds.
Kakololo took the fight to Nghipondoka from the start, but the latter was dangerous on the counterattack, landing some big blows.
By the second round Kakololo landed some big blows, but Nghipondoka came back with more of his own.
Kakololo, however, started to gain the upper hand with his relentless attacks and by the sixth round both boxers had the crowd up on its feet as they slugged it out in the centre of the ring.
In the end, two judges scored the fight 78-74 in Kakololo’s favour, while a third had it as a 76-76 draw.
Jonas Erastus, meanwhile, retained his national flyweight title after a majority points decision over Luben Kandimba.
Kandimba had the longer reach and managed to get some points with his jabs, but Erastus was busier, pushing the pace and landing the more powerful blows to win the fight on a majority decision, with two judges scoring it 98-92 and 99-91 in his favour, while a third scored it 95-94 for Kandimba.
Namibia’s former welterweight champion and Africa super middleweight contender, Anthony Jarmann, made his debut as a heavyweight and got off to a winning start, with a third round knockout of Johannes Nangolo.
Both boxers landed one or two big blows, but there were more misses than hits.
Jarmann, however, finally connected with a body punch in the third round, which dropped Nangolo to his knees as he was counted out.
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!
