Tough opponent awaits Natanael

Boxing
Andrew Poolman
  • 3 Months Ago 22 August 2024
Namibian super featherweight boxer Sebastianus Natanael will be the underdog in his international bout against South Africa’s Azinga Fuzile on Sunday night at the Orient Theater in East London.

MTC Nestor Tobias Sunshine Boxing Academy co-sponsored by PstBet announced the bout, scheduled for 10 rounds, which should boost the winner’s position in the world ranking, “since both boxers are quality fighters”.

Since the 28-year-old Eastern Cape fighter turned professional in 2014, he remained unbeaten in his first 14 fights until September 2019, when he was knocked out by Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov of Tajikistan in Port Elizabeth.

His career stats currently stand at 17 wins (11 by knock-out) and two losses (one by knock-out). He has previously held the IBF Africa and IBF Intercontinental titles – won with consecutive knock-out wins in 2018 against Waidi Usman (Nigeria), Malcolm Klassen (RSA) and Ibrahim Class (Tanzania), who were all seasoned campaigners.

Fuzile has twice fought in Las Vegas – impressively winning by seventh-round technical knock-out in May 2021 against the UK’s Martin J. Ward (24-1 at the time) in a world title eliminator. The South African southpaw known as “Golden Boy” had dominated matters by putting his opponent on the canvas in rounds four and seven.

Following this display of accuracy, Fuzile fought at Madison Square Garden against Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa (25-1 at the time) in November 2021. After twelve rounds, the South African paid the price for being knocked down in rounds 5 and 12 and Ogawa was adjudged to be the winner by all three judges.

In Sunday night’s main event, his 33-year-old Namibian opponent nicknamed “Iron Fists” will aim to bring down the biggest scalp of his career to date.

Natanael (17 wins, 9 KOs; 4 losses, 1 by KO) has won his last three fights, but has previously conceded defeats in three of his four fights outside his home country’s borders. Natanael had previously travelled to fight in Singapore, South Africa (Hammanskraal) and Ghana’s capital Accra, where John Laryea (still unbeaten after 13 fights) handed him the only knock-out defeat of his career to date, in the fourth round of their WBO Africa featherweight title fight in July 2021.