Kamanya clears name

PROMOTER Kiriata Kamanya yesterday dismissed claims that he was in the business of boxing for a quick buck, arguing that he has the interest of fighters at heart, with his investments in the sport totalling over half a million to date.

Kamanya recently obtained a licence from the Namibia Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (NBWCB) and operates as Salute Trading Boxing and Sports Entertainment Promotions. The allegations are that Kamanya organised a bogus fight for former Namibian world boxing champion Harry ‘The Terminator’ Simon in the United Kingdom, in a bid to instantly hit the big time and make a quick buck.’I want to assure the people that I love boxing and I have helped many boxers financially through my company. I have proof of this. I have invested over N$500 000 in boxing and I will continue to do that,’ said a clearly irritated Kamanya.At an earlier press conference, Kamanya said he was promoting a super-middleweight fight between Simon and Latvia’s Jevgenisj Kiselevs on the Ricky Hatton Promotions card in Stoke City, England, on February 19.It turned out that the fight was never on the card, but Kamanya, through Simon’s international manager Ellison Hijarunguru, said the following day that the fight was cancelled at the last minute due to regulatory complications and that Simon would now face Douglas Otino from Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 20.Yesterday, Kamanya and Hijarunguru said that the fight against Otino in Kenya was also called off at the last minute after Otino pulled out at the last minute, but another opponent in Daniel Wanyone was found to fight Simon the next day.According to both Hijarunguru and Kamanya, Simon won the fight with a technical knockout (TKO) in the fifth round. Simon is expected to return to Namibia today, according to the two boxing officials.Hijarunguru, also the deputy chairman of the (NBWCB), is lining up Simon to take on current Commonwealth super middleweight champion Charles Adamu next month, but the fight has not been confirmed. ‘We are planning to stage a fight for Harry in the near future. We are not going to reveal any details of the fight yet. We will wait until the time is right and we want to put it on record that we have no dubious dealings in boxing,’ said Kamanya. corry.ihuhua@yahoo.com