• Boxing

Electric Energy overpowers Oguni

• 2 Days Ago 14 October 2024

Namibian prospect Fillipus Nghitumbwa recorded the biggest victory of his career so far when he beat former world champion Yukinori Oguni of Japan by technical knockout in the first round of their non-title fight in Yokohama, Japan, yesterday.

The referee stopped the fight when the home boxer was knocked down a third time in the round.

The 28-year-old Nghitumbwa afterwards called out unbeaten Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue, or called for a rematch with the Philippines’ John Riel Casimero, who was on the same undercard in Yokohama yesterday and who beat the Namibian on points in May 2023 in Paranaque City.

Despite Oguni hitting “Energy” solidly with a few shots in the earliest exchanges, especially with his attacks to the body, the Namibian appeared unbothered by the level of power coming from the Japanese fighter.

After one minute 05 seconds of the first round, Nghitumbwa threw a quick combination with a left hook to the head (which Oguni evaded), a right to the body and a left hook to the head, which dropped the home fighter on his backside for the first time.

Oguni rose to his feet quickly, but his hand speed was now visibly slower and his legs buckled under him again when Nghitumbwa crashed another left hook to the head after 1:26.

This time Oguni took a few moments to try and recover, nodding and smiling to his corner before rising to beat the referee’s count.

Oguni tried his best to fight his way back into the contest, but his hand speed had deserted him and the Namibian easily evaded all his attempted power punches. After being backed into the ropes for a short while, Nghitumbwa went to full-on attack against a visibly weakened opponent, who dropped down against the ropes with the referee immediately deciding he had seen enough, ending the contest with 37 seconds of the first round left.



Expect a rankings boost

Before the fight, Nghitumbwa was listed at 9th on the World Boxing Organisation’s latest ranking of junior featherweights (also called super bantamweight, 55.34 kg).

The win in Yokohama should be a significant boost to the Namibian’s pedigree at the elite level.

The WBO’s nr 6 is John Riel Casimero of the Philippines, who stepped into the same ring immediately after Nghitumbwa and scored a first-round technical knockout against Sam Sanchez of the USA.

However, Casimero had already failed his weigh-in the previous day, coming in a kilogram too heavy, marking the third time this has happened in the career of the former three-weight world champion.

The division's undisputed king is Naoya Inoue of Japan, known as “The Monster” with an unblemished record of 28 wins (25 knockouts) and no losses. Inoue is one of only three male boxers in history (along with Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk) to become the undisputed champion in two weight classes in the “four-belt era”.

According to reporting, Inoue will defend his undisputed super bantamweight title for the third time, against the undefeated IBF and WBO mandatory challenger Sam Goodman of the USA in Tokyo on 24 December 2024.



Promoter Nestor Tobias said the win for Nghitumbwa is testament to the amount of work he has done in the gym.

“The camp is very proud what the boxer has achieved in Japan and it just shows the amount of hard work we have put in to prepare him.

“It is not easy going into a country like Japan and to knock down a former world champion," Tobias said.

The fight may not have been a title contest, but the camp believes this result will grow Nghitumbwa's profile as well as his confidence going forward.

“These non-title fights are just as important because they bring you a step closer to the title fights.

“They also boost the profile of a boxer and that is very important because it improves the chances of securing a world title fight," Tobias added.

Energy improved his professional boxing record with his 15th win out of 17 fights, while having conceded two defeats on points.

In only his second-ever fight outside his country, he has added his name to the list of prominent Namibian boxers who have won fights overseas. The most famous Namibian win on Japanese soil remains Paulus (Hitman) Moses unanimously outpointing Yusuki Kobori in January 2009 in Yokohama to take his WBA lightweight world championship belt.