Simon’s exhibition fight called off

FORMER Namibian middleweight boxing champion Harry Simon has to wait a little longer to step into the ring, after his exhibition sparring session, which was scheduled for tomorrow against South Africa’s Dingaan Thobela, was called off until further notice.

Simon’s manager Ellison Hijarunguru told The Namibian Sport yesterday that the sparring session, which was also supposed to see several fights at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday, will no longer take place due to “unforeseen circumstances”. “We have called it off because of unforeseen circumstances which are in fact beyond our control,” he said.Simon was preparing for the eight-round session in South Africa for the past four weeks and the event was supposed to mark his return to the boxing ring after an absence of four years.Simon, who was involved in a gruesome road accident near Walvis Bay, has since lost his world title and Hijarunguru was not sure when the boxer would be given a chance to prove that he was capable of pursuing his career again.”We expect to have a new date by at least early next week, but for now, the event has been called off,” he said.The boxing exhibition was set to feature Namibia’s welterweight champion Bethuel ‘Tyson’ Uushona, who was supposed to take on South Africa’s Ziatemba Shaka.Hijarunguru said the promoters were working around the clock to find a new date for the event to take place.He ruled out financial commitments as the problem.A local insurance company, CapriCorn Life, has made a commitment to sponsor the event, but appealed to other companies to assist if possible.Simon intends to make his official comeback in November this year in an attempt to challenge for the world title that he lost after being inactive for too long.”We have called it off because of unforeseen circumstances which are in fact beyond our control,” he said.Simon was preparing for the eight-round session in South Africa for the past four weeks and the event was supposed to mark his return to the boxing ring after an absence of four years.Simon, who was involved in a gruesome road accident near Walvis Bay, has since lost his world title and Hijarunguru was not sure when the boxer would be given a chance to prove that he was capable of pursuing his career again.”We expect to have a new date by at least early next week, but for now, the event has been called off,” he said.The boxing exhibition was set to feature Namibia’s welterweight champion Bethuel ‘Tyson’ Uushona, who was supposed to take on South Africa’s Ziatemba Shaka.Hijarunguru said the promoters were working around the clock to find a new date for the event to take place.He ruled out financial commitments as the problem.A local insurance company, CapriCorn Life, has made a commitment to sponsor the event, but appealed to other companies to assist if possible.Simon intends to make his official comeback in November this year in an attempt to challenge for the world title that he lost after being inactive for too long.