Latinos in confident mood

The south American boxers who will be in action at the Final Punch to the World Title Boxing Bonanza on Saturday night have arrived in Namibia and were in confident mood at a press conference in Windhoek on Tuesday.

Josenilson dos Santos of Brazil, who will challenge Paulus “Hitman” Moses in the main fight for the WBO International Lightweight title, said he was confident of victory.

“I am very happy to be here and to fight for an international title. I’ll give him a big fight and I’m ready to win on Saturday night,” Dos Santos said through an interpreter.

The 29-year-old Dos Santos has an impressive record of 27 wins and two losses, while Moses has a record of 33 wins and two losses.

Dario Pucheta of Argentina, who will take on Tyson Ushona in an international welterweight fight was also in confident mood.

“I am ready to take on Tyson Ushona on Saturday night. I won my last fight by knockout two months ago so I’m confident and I’ll do my best to win on Saturday night,” he said.

The powerfully built 27-year-old also has an impressive record of 19 wins and two losses, one of which was a controversial defeat against Anderson Clayton of Brazil for the WBC Super Welterweight title in October last year.

In the seventh round, Pucheta put Clayton down with an illegal punch and when the ring doctor decided that Clayton could not continue, the judges gave the fight to Clayton who was leading on all three judges’ scorecards.

Walter Cabral of Argentina takes on Vikapita Meroro in an international cruiserweight fight over 10 rounds. Cabral, who has a record of 19 wins and 10 losses, said he, too, was confident of victory.

“Last month I beat a heavyweight who only had eight defeats so I’m confident and that’s why I took this fight because it’s an easier fight for me and I know I’ll beat the local boxer,” he said.

Promoter Nestor Tobias of the MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing Academy said it was not easy to get the boxers to Namibia, but vowed that they would put up a great show.

“It was not easy to convince them to come to Africa, what with all the Ebola stories going around, but they are here and the fight is on. We welcome our visitors to Namibia but come Saturday the fourth you’ll get a warm welcome in the ring as well. The fire will be hot, but enjoy the fight,” he said.

Tobias said he expected his boxers to get world title fights if they won.

“This will be the final punch to the world title, so we expect the Hitman, Tyson Ushona and Vikapita Meroro to challenge for world titles after this. We have done our part and now it is up to them to do their part. They will also encourage other Namibian boxers to do well if they win,” he said.

Tim Ekandjo of sponsors MTC said they were looking forward to a great show.

“We are very excited to host the Final Punch to the World Title Bonanza on Saturday. We call on the fans to come in big numbers, the tickets are well priced and we want to see the Katutura Independence Arena packed out. There will be ample security and we encourage all to come for some great entertainment,” he said.

The tickets are N$500 for VIP tickets and N$100 for general tickets and are available at Shoprite and Checkers through Computicket countrywide.

There will be a total of 10 fights, featuring the likes of Wilberforce Shihepo, Sacky Shikukutu, Tommy Hango, Peter Malakia and Nataneal Kamati, while the first fight will start at 18h30.