Paulus Ambunda emulated his boyhood hero Harry Simon by winning his second world title on Saturday night, when he beat Leandro David Esperante of Argentina on a split decision to win the IBO super bantamweight title.
It was his second world title, after he previously won the WBO bantamweight title in 2013, and saw him join Simon as the only Namibian boxer to have won two world titles.
It was a dream come true for Ambunda and despite the fact that he turns 35 years old 6 August, he believes that the best is yet to come.
“Eish, I cant believe it because it’s been in my mind for so long, to win two world titles. Now the dream has come true and I can just say thanks to God. I still want to improve and win more titles – I want to unify the title and I’m ready to fight anybody,” he said.
Ambunda however had to pull out all the stops to beat Esperante and showed great courage to come back after being knocked down in the second round.
“I didn’t feel anything, he didn’t hurt me, but I was just shocked and I couldn’t believe that I was down. I got up but I could feel my legs were not normal, it felt like I didn’t have any energy, so I just knelt down and took another count so that I could rest a bit,” he said.
After that there was no stopping Ambunda who said he was determined to win the title.
“When I recovered I told myself, if this guy wants to beat me he will have to kill me. I knew I could win the fight – he was not strong or powerful, he was just skilful. I was very determined and felt I needed more rounds, like 16 rounds, so that I could knock him out,” he said.
Since his victory, Ambunda has been the talk of town and congratulatory messages have been streaming in, but while being appreciative, Ambunda is determined not to be distracted.
“A lot of friends have been calling and texting me to congratulate me. They wave in the streets and it feels great to be a world champion again. But I still have to pray to God not to be indisciplined and to move forward – there’s still a lot to come.”
Growing up in Oshakati, Ambunda initially excelled as a soccer player and made the Oshana regional team at primary school level. He moved to Windhoek where he enrolled at Ella du Plessis High School and it was only in Grade 11 that he took up boxing, after being inspired by Simon.
“I watched his fight against Winky Wright in 1998 when he became the world champion and that inspired me to take up boxing. I decided then and there that I would also become a world champion one day,” he said.
Ambunda joined the Central Boxing Academy in Katutura and under the guidance of coach Jacob ‘Mistake’ Gariseb, his talent and dedication soon shone through.
By 2002 he won the flyweight title at the national championships and when he won a silver medal at the Zone 6 Championships in Angola later that year, he qualified for the 2003 All Africa Games in Nigeria.
Here, he once again won a silver medal to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where he won his first two fights before losing in the quarterfinals.
Ambunda also represented Namibia at the 2006 Commonwealth Games but by 2007 he decided to turn professional and made an immediate impact.
He easily won his first fights and by 2009 he won the Namibian bantamweight title with a second round technical knockout against Tommy Nakashimba.
The following year he won the WBO Africa bantamweight title and when he beat William Prado of Brazil to win the WBO international bantamweight title in 2012, he had become a serious contender for the world title.
His big chance came when he took on Pungluang Sor Singyu of Thailand for the WBO bantamweight title in March 2013 and Ambunda did not disappoint, giving a brilliant performance to win the title on a unanimous points decision.
“It was amazing. It was my first world title and I was super fit and ready for the fight. By God’s grace I became a champion,” he said.
Ambunda however lost his first title defence against Tomoki Kameda of Japan five months later, although he still believes that he was robbed of the title.
“I lost that fight but I feel that I was robbed because Kameda didn’t do much. I was leading the fight and trying to cut the ring down and trying to connect with my punches. But the judges decided to give Kameda the title so we just said, OK, it’s a loss, but we will go back to the gym and train harder to get the title back.”
A rematch against Kameda didn’t materialise, but Ambunda, in the meantime, moved up a weight to super bantamweight where he won two fights to set up his showdown with Esperante for the IBO world title.
One on One with Paulus Ambunda
When and where were you born?
6 August 1980 in Oshakati.
Omusiboti Primary School and Ella du Plessis High School.
Who had a big influence on your life?
My grandmother. She’s the one who raised me and was always there for me. She taught me to respect people and not to steal and she also forced us children to go to church.
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