Tobias urges Namibians to vote

Boxing promoter Nestor Tobias has urged Namibians to vote in Namibia’s upcoming presidential and National Assembly elections. 

Tobias was speaking at a press conference yesterday to promote the MTC Nestor Sunshine Academy’s upcoming Your Vote Counts Boxing Bonanza at the Windhoek Country Club on 16 November. 

“This is a very important year because it’s the election year. When you talk about an election, you talk about the rule of the country. We want to maintain our democracy, peace and stability,” he said. 

“Before independence we were not allowed to participate internationally, so we have to support these elections because it brought us success.

“Our forefathers, who fought for this country were fighting for us, but we are also doing this for the next generation, so we have to maintain our peace and stability through democracy and elections. Come 27 November we will have another election and we just want to urge everybody who is registered to go in big numbers and vote,” he added.

In the main fight of the evening, Jon Jon Ndjolonimus will defend his WBO Africa Super Middleweight title against Abubaka Mubarak of Ghana, and with both boxers still undefeated, a tremendous fight can be expected. 

“Both boxers are undefeated, so it’s going to be a cracker, and it’s going to be a tough fight,” Tobias said.

“Jon Jon is now rated number four in the world by the WBO and that’s a big achievement. Canelo Alvarez is the champion and if you are at number four, anything can happen. You can get a call anytime. But the most important thing is to get Jon Jon to number one, so that he can get a mandatory fight,” he added.

Ndjolonimus has a great record of 18 consecutive wins as a professional boxer, with 16 coming via knockout. He won the WBO Africa Super Middleweight title in 2021 when he beat compatriot Anthony Jarmann on a 10th round knockout, and since then he has successfully defended the title on six occasions, rising to number four in the world in the process. 

In his last fight six months ago, he had another comfortable win, beating Clever Sithole of Zimbabwe on a sixth round technical knockout.

Now, he will face his toughest test against the Mubarak, who is unbeaten after 12 fights, with nine coming via knockout. At 26, Mubarak also has age on his side, although the 37-year-old Ndjolonimus is more experienced.

In the main supporting bout Matheus Heita will be aiming to add the WBO Africa featherweight title to the WBA title that he won in August when he beat South Africa’s Thato Bonokoane on a third round knockout. 

Heita is also unbeaten after 12 fights with eight wins coming via knockout, but he can expect a strong challenge from Tatenda Biningu of Zimbabwe, who has only lost one of his 11 fights. 

Namibia’s former world ranked lightweight fighter Jeremiah Nakathila continues his comeback trail with a fight against Tafadzwa Mushando of Zimbabwe. 

The 34-year-old Nakathila is the more experienced boxer with a record of 25 wins and four losses, while Mushando, who is only 23 years old, has a record of nine wins and one loss.

There will be a total of eight fights at the bonanza, with other up and coming prospects, including Martin Mukungu, Nicanor Halwendo, Alfeus Shaanika, Nestor Thomas and Frederick Nghutenanye. 

Tickets are N$200 per person or N$20 000 for a table of 10.