Simon Pulls No Punches

John Ekongo

6 June 2011

Walvis Bay — Former world champion Harry Onkugo Simon somewhat resembled his old self during the early hours of Sunday morning when he took on five boxers during an exhibition bout meant to assess the erstwhile boxing legend’s current abilities – if he still has what it takes to climb to the top of the ladder of international boxing.

Although Simon pulled no punches as he went about his business in the ring, his opponents left much to be desired.

The likes of Jan Bergman, Simon Mokoena. Lucky Samba, Isaack Letshlayo and Taks Naule were not effective competition for Simon – who was clearly looking for a formidable sparring partner to land his punches on.

Simon’s handler, Anita Tjombe, said at a press conference last Thursday the exhibition match was to keep the pugilist fit in anticipation of a possible title contender against Roy Jones.

“I need to make sure he remains undefeated – that is why we are having an exhibition fight instead of a real fight, because as long as he is undefeated he will still have a chance to fight against Roy Jones later this year,” Tjombe said.

“We still have to negotiate with Roy about the fight on the weight class, but what I can say now is that I will not fight him if it’s a heavyweight fight,” Simon said.

Meanwhile, Joseph “Smokey Joe” Hilongwa defended his WBA Africa flyweight title when he knocked out Mkholisi Bhonxa from South Africa via a TKO.

Coming into the fight, Bhonxa boasted a patchy record of nine wins from 14 fights with four losses and one draw.

It was Hilongwa’s first title defence since winning the title when he defeated Tanzanian Sadik Abdulazizi to become the WBA Pan-Africa flyweight champion.

AllAfrica – All the Time