Historic battle draws closer

BOXERS Mikka Shonena and Youli Dong on Tuesday came face to face for the first time ahead of their international welterweight fight, which will take place at the Ongwediva Trade Fair Centre on Saturday evening.

The showdown, scheduled for 12 rounds, will be the main bout of ‘The Battle: Namibia v China’ bonanza, which will see a further nine fights on the undercard.

At Tuesday’s face-off, both boxers exuded confidence ahead of the fight, which will have a lot at stake, according to promoter Nestor Tobias.

“These are two world-rated fighters – Shonena is rated fifth in the world by the World Boxing Organisation, while Dong is rated 15th. So, there will be a lot at stake, and I’m sure the winner will get a top three world rating,” he said.

The 31-year-old Shonena, who is the current WBO Africa welterweight champion, is still undefeated after 14 professional fights, while Dong, who is only 24 years old, is the WBO Asia Pacific Youth champion, and has a record of 14 wins, one draw and one loss.

Dong’s manager Yuanlong Peng said his boxer is well-prepared and ready for the fight.

“This is our first time in Africa, and Namibia is a very beautiful country. My boxer is very young, but he wants to be a world champion, so he is prepared and ready for the fight,” he said, before ending with ‘Hong Kong is China, China is Hong Kong!’

For his part, Shonena said he couldn’t wait to get into the ring. “I’m happy that my opponent has arrived, and I can’t wait for the fight to start. I want to thank our sponsor MTC, and call on the whole nation to come and watch our fight. I also want to thank my sparring partners who have helped me prepare”.

“This fight is big, because I’ll be representing Namibia against China, and I won’t let my country down,” he enthused.

There will be several other exciting bouts to look forward to on the undercard.

In the main curtain-raiser, Harry Simon Junior, who is still undefeated after nine fights, will take on Philip Musariri of Zimbabwe (six wins, one loss, two draws) in a junior welterweight fight over eight rounds, while another top prospect, Paulinus Paulinus, who is unbeaten after eight fights, will take on Roy Yudha of Malawi (four wins and two defeats) over eight rounds.

The rest of the undercard is as follows:

Michael Bernard (five wins, no losses) will take on Dominicus Weyulu (four wins, three losses, one draw) in a junior lightweight fight over six rounds.

Sebastian Nathaniel (10 wins, two losses) will take on Niikoti Johannes (six wins, four losses, two draws) in a junior lightweight fight over six rounds.

Emmanuel Mungadjela (12 wins, three losses, one draw) will take on Simon Shafodino (two wins, two losses, two draws) in a welterweight fight over six rounds.

Edison Nghipondoka (four wins, two losses) will take on Chikondi Makawa of Malawi (14 wins, 10 losses, one draw) in a junior middleweight fight over six rounds.

Phillipus Nghitumbwa (seven wins, one loss) will take on Japhet Amukwa (five wins, one loss, one draw) in a super bantamweight fight over six rounds.

Mateus Heita (three wins) will take on Paulus Aikela (one win, one loss) in a super bantamweight fight over four rounds.

Paulus Amavila (three wins) will take on Immanuel Jason (one win, one loss) in a lightweight fight over four rounds.