Tjombe debuts female fighter

NOT so long ago Anita Tjombe was the first and only female promoter in the country and on Saturday she will give Martina ‘Iron Punch’ Tjihua the opportunity to become Namibia’s first professional female fighter.

Tjuauha a featherweight, will feature as an undercard to the night’s main event, a fight for the ABU featherweight title between Albinus Felesianu and Zambia’s Charles Kauseni. Her opponent is yet to be confirmed, but Tjombe said it is another Zambian national. A second non-title fight featuring female fighters will see Zambia’s Katherine Phiri fight Ryder Mareb from South Africa in a featherweight bout on the night. Although Tjuauha has never fought before, she is ‘talented’ and it is time that she was given the platform to enhance her dream, according to ‘Iron Lady’ Tjombe. She added that the fight was sanctioned by the Namibia Boxing Control Board.’I would love for the nation to come and see Namibia’s first ever professional female boxer,’ said Tjombe. ‘It’s part of our efforts to promote boxing to women and the country at large.’Main act Felesianu gave a great display by knocking out Dumezweni Ntuliki of Zimbabwe after only 46 seconds of the first round in a lightweight fight at the end of July. The hard-punching fighter – formerly dubbed ‘Danny Boy’ and now known as ‘Fearless’ – improved his record of 11 fights, 7 wins and 4 defeats The boxing bonanza is the first under Tjombe’s Iron Lady Promotions, and was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed for unspecified reasons. The venue has also been changed, and now sees the event held at the NamPower Convention Centre in Windhoek.’The reason I’m doing this is for boxers to make a bit of money,’ said Tjombe. ‘The fight card remains the same and the changes have not affected our boxers who will put up a good show on a great night of boxing action.’Other fights on the card include: Steven Shimbonde v Thomas Shangula – Lightweight, 4 rounds; Daniel Hosea v Michael Kambunga – Lightweight, 4 rounds; Batale Jules (Congo) v Frank Muteru (SA) – Welterweight, 6 rounds; Pohamba Mandume v Pathias Kambembe (Zam) – Welterweight, 6 rounds; Ndokosho Gotlieb v Vusumusi Sonandi (SA) – Featherweight, 6 rounds.

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