|
Namibian late-bloomer Onesmus
Nekundi captured the vacant
World Boxing Federation (WBF)
International Lightweight title
on Saturday, November 30.
In Luanda, Angola, he put on an
impressive performance,
defeating hard-punching
Portuguese veteran Antonio Joao
Bento.
The WBF All Africa Champion at
Super Featherweight going in,
Nekundi took charge from the
first round and applied heavy
pressure on Joao Bento, who
found it hard to send much the
other way.
Joao Bento tried in spurts, but
Nekundi had little trouble
dealing with his attacks and was
simply the stronger and fresher
man.
After six rounds of more or less
one-way traffic, referee Elroy
Marshall from South Africa had
seen enough in round seven and
mercifully stopped the fight.
Time of stoppage: 1:20.
Onesmus Nekundi improved his
record to 10-5-3 (2), while Joao
Bento, who made his paid debut
over twenty years ago in 1999
and has held various WBA, WBC
and IBF regional belts, drops to
33-18-3 (21).
Nekundi is a much better fighter
than his spotted statistics
suggest, and he appears to have
found his true form as he hopes
to continue building on his
momentum towards even bigger
fights.
|
