Julius “The Blue Machine” Indongo will face Terence Crawford on August 19 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, for the WBO/WBC/WBA/IBF & IBO Jr Welterweight world titles.
The fight which will see five (5) world titles belts on the line does not happen often in boxing, in fact the last time it happened must have been over 15 years ago, that is how special this fight will be, predicted to bring the world of boxing to a total standstill.
In the world of boxing, such a mega fight surpasses the honour of a Unification fight, which is when one world champion challenges another world champion to unify the titles, like Indongo did when he fought Ricky Burns. This fight is called a Full Undisputed World Title fight because it puts on the line all 5 world title belts from top sanctioning bodies.
To show you just how significant this fight is to the world of boxing, let us take a quick look at history. In 1999, Roy Jones Jr was spuriously promoted as the undisputed Light Heavyweight champion by HBO after unifying the WBA, WBC and IBF titles. Lennox Lewis unified the WBC, IBF and WBA titles to become the undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world. In 2006, Joe Calzaghe become the undisputed Super Middleweight champion of the world after defeating Mikkel Kessler for the WBA, WBC and WBO belts.
All the above unified champions never had 5 world title belts on the line, and that goes to show just how massive the Crawford vs Indongo fight is in re-writing history in the boxing world. Never in the history of the Jr Welterweight division has any boxer ever held 5 world title belts, from Eddie Perkins from England in 1963 who held the WBA and WBC belts to Kosta Tszyu from Japan in 2001 who held the WBA, WBC and IBF belts. Evander Holyfield in 1988 held 3 world title belts namely WBA, WBC & IBF. In 1963, George Foreman held 2 world title belts, namely WBC & WBA,. In 1964 Muhammad Ali held 2 world title belts namely WBC and WBA while Mike Tyson in 1987 held 3 world title belts namely WBA/WBC and IBF.
In 2001, Bernard Hopkins became the undisputed champion after defeating Felix Trinidad in a Middleweight fight to successfully unify the WBC/WBA and IBF belts, later adding the WBO belt to his undisputed status after defeating Oscar De La Hoya to become the first man to ever hold all 4 belts at the same time. The big question is, between Crawford and Indongo, who will become the first man in boxing to hold all 5 world title belts to break Bernard Hopkins record?
“I am happy to announce that after long negotiations, the Indongo vs Crawford Undisputed Jr Welterweight World Title fight for the WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO/IBO world title fight has been confirmed and scheduled for the 19th August 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. We would like to thank our main sponsor MTC, Matchroom and Top Rank for having played a part in finalizing these negotiations which was not easy to conclude for such a mega fight”, said Nestor Tobias from MTC Nestor Sunshine Promotions.
“I feel truly blessed to be at the right time at the right place and with the best team and sponsor. After 2 massive world title wins against 2 world champions away from home, I now find myself in the most important fight in boxing history, a full unification fight with 5 world titles on the line, I am honoured to be part of it, to represent my country Namibia, and winning it against a world class and undefeated fighter like Terence Crawford will be a bonus” said Indongo.
“I think it is appropriate to say that when your achievements redefine excellence, you have made history. MTC is proud to be part of re-writing history in the world of boxing and standing alongside the MTC Sunshine Team against Terence Crawford and anybody who doubts the ability of Indongo and the Namibian spirit and courage. Nothing will stand in our way on this path of greatness and we wish the MTC Sunshine Team and Indongo all the best. Millions around the world in every continent will come to a standstill to watch this fight involving a proud son of Namibia, now that gives our investment the greatest joy. So on our own behalf, and on behalf of every Namibian, we wish you well son, go and do us proud and firmly imprint your name in the history books of boxing” remarked Ekandjo.
