Uutoni guns for gold at C’wealth Games

NAMIBIAN boxer Jafet Uutoni will aim for gold when he squares up against England’s John Darren Langley in the final of the light-flyweight division at the Commonwealth Games in Australia tomorrow.

Namibia’s only medal so far was won by Friedhelm Sack in the men’s 10m air-pistol event on Wednesday. He won a bronze medal.Uutoni punched his way through to the finals impressively, making him the only boxer out of the six who went to represent Namibia in Melbourne to reach the final round.Uutoni first beat Nigeria’s Lukumon Akinolugbade 10-33 on points, before he went on to wipe out Papua New Guinea’s Jack Willie in a quarter-final clash.In the fight against Willie, the referee stopped the contest in the second round and Uutoni was awarded the win.In the semi-final bout, the Namibian finished off Swaziland’s Simanga Shiba to book himself a date with Englishman Langley.He beat Shiba 34-16 on points.Coached by Cuba’s Geraldo Bicet and Namibia’s Mistake Gariseb at the Games, Uutoni is currently also the Zone Six African Champion, after he won gold last year in Bloemfontein, South Africa.In that fight, the stocky boxer defeated Michael Rantsho of Botswana.He is also the African champion in the 48 kg category after he claimed gold at the All-African Championships in Casablanca, Morocco, last year.Uutoni, who is the current Namibian Sportsman of the Year, is also known as ‘Slow Poison’, in reference to his fighting style, but since his African Championship win, people have taken to calling him ‘The Namibian Lion’.Meanwhile, Sack remains one of Namibia’s unsung heroes as he has proven to be one of the country’s most consistent performers in world events.Sack also won a bronze medal in the air-pistol pairs with Boelie Malherbe at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.He is one of the most experienced Namibian team members, having competed at three Olympic Games and three previous Commonwealth Games.He was in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics, in Sydney in 2002, and also in Athens in 2004.For the Commonwealth Games, he made his first appearance in Victoria, Canada, in 1994, before moving on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998 and then to Manchester in 2002.He won a bronze medal.Uutoni punched his way through to the finals impressively, making him the only boxer out of the six who went to represent Namibia in Melbourne to reach the final round.Uutoni first beat Nigeria’s Lukumon Akinolugbade 10-33 on points, before he went on to wipe out Papua New Guinea’s Jack Willie in a quarter-final clash.In the fight against Willie, the referee stopped the contest in the second round and Uutoni was awarded the win.In the semi-final bout, the Namibian finished off Swaziland’s Simanga Shiba to book himself a date with Englishman Langley.He beat Shiba 34-16 on points.Coached by Cuba’s Geraldo Bicet and Namibia’s Mistake Gariseb at the Games, Uutoni is currently also the Zone Six African Champion, after he won gold last year in Bloemfontein, South Africa.In that fight, the stocky boxer defeated Michael Rantsho of Botswana.He is also the African champion in the 48 kg category after he claimed gold at the All-African Championships in Casablanca, Morocco, last year.Uutoni, who is the current Namibian Sportsman of the Year, is also known as ‘Slow Poison’, in reference to his fighting style, but since his African Championship win, people have taken to calling him ‘The Namibian Lion’.Meanwhile, Sack remains one of Namibia’s unsung heroes as he has proven to be one of the country’s most consistent performers in world events.Sack also won a bronze medal in the air-pistol pairs with Boelie Malherbe at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.He is one of the most experienced Namibian team members, having competed at three Olympic Games and three previous Commonwealth Games.He was in Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics, in Sydney in 2002, and also in Athens in 2004.For the Commonwealth Games, he made his first appearance in Victoria, Canada, in 1994, before moving on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1998 and then to Manchester in 2002.