‘Three Lions’ A tribute to perseverance

AN informative chronicle by seasoned sports journalist Helge Schütz of three lion-hearted young men from the Land of the Brave who rose from obscurity to sit among the global elites at the summit of an unforgiving sport.

Given the dearth of literature on Namibian sporting accomplishments, this book may yet prove to be a trailblazer – in much the same way that Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses, Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda and Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo inspired the current generation of Namibian fighters.

The author drew inspiration from the boxers’ rags to riches story through which they enhanced Namibia’s reputation as a leading boxing nation with some world class performances.

‘Three Lions’ is styled on George Edward Kimball’s book called ‘Four Kings’ – about the era of the great middleweights Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran and followed their careers as their paths crossed and led to some of the biggest and lucrative fights in sporting history.

“While I was reading the book, it struck me that Namibia also had its ‘Kings of Boxing,’ Harry Simon had already become Namibia’s first world champion in 1998, but these three boxers led in a new era of greatness for Namibian boxing,” Schütz said at the book’s launch in March.

Schütz skilfully details how the fighters got involved in boxing after all three initially had other aspirations.

The book follows their careers from the amateur ranks, through to their professional careers, when they became Namibian champions, African champions and eventually world champions.

‘Three Lions’ also takes a look at the role that promoter Nestor Tobias has played in developing professional boxing in Namibia, as well as the numerous other Namibian boxers who have excelled at a continental or international level.

In this regard, the book is also a useful reference tool with a list of the close to 30 Namibian boxers who have become African champions over the past decade, as well as the records of our Three Lions.

Paulus Moses led the way when he became the WBA lightweight world champion in Japan in 2009, while Paulus Ambunda became the WBO bantamweight world champion four years later.

By late 2016, Schütz had started doing research for the book and when Julius Indongo became the IBF and IBO super lightweight world champion with a devastating punch in December 2016, “I felt I had no choice, and that I just had to write the book,” he said.

And so the Four Kings became Three Namibian Lions and for over a year he worked on the project which has already received a rave review from new sport minister Erastus Uutoni, who paid homage to Schütz for recording the fighters’ achievements as in so doing, he ensured that Namibian sporting excellence will not be forgotten.

“Over the years in the history of sport in Namibia, we have seen the rise and fall of many great sportsmen and women, and if you ask the current generation about them, they will not tell you anything, Uutoni said.

“This is why I believe it is important that we document and archive the lives of these individuals to remind the generations to come of the great things they have achieved, not only for themselves, but for our Namibian nation,” he added.

‘Three Lions’ is available from Windhoek Book Den and directly from Helge Schütz at 081 261 4002.

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