Jeremiah Nakathila made a triumphant return in his Namibia homecoming, knocking out Zimbabwe’s Ndodana Ncube in the second round Saturday night at Windhoek Country Club.
“Low Key” was in fine form fighting for the first time since his disappointing loss to rising American star Shakur Stevenson last June.
Ncube, 23, 7-3 (5 KOs), was a last-minute replacement for his compatriot Tanashe Mwadziwana who, according to card promoter Nestor Tobias, “chickened out.”
The 31-year-old Nakathila (22-2, 18 KOs) wasted no time, dominating Ncube (7-3, 5 KOs) in the first before a single right cross in the second floored Ncube for the full 10-count.
“My loss was a learning lesson, l’ll become more stronger than before,” Nakathila said afterward. “I know I put up a good fight [against Stevenson] and went up to the twelfth round. With the best promoter in Africa in my corner I believe the sky is the limit.”
The opposing corner agreed.
“Nakathila was just too strong and powerful for my boy, he couldn’t avoid the KO and also he was a replacement for Tinashe Madziwane, so psychologically he wasn’t tuned properly for the fight,” said Ncube promoter Clied Musonda, who also serves as the director of Deltaforce Boxing Academy and was a former boxer himself.
With the victory, Tobias is hopeful that his fighter can get back to the upper echelon in the 130-pound division.
“I still have high hopes my boxer will make it big,” said Tobias. “Top Rank [Promotions] promised us another bout when I was in the United States with Nakathila.”
“Nakathila is one of the most popular fighters in Namibia who loves to associate with his fans.”
Namibia’s Paulinus “John John” Ndjolonimu (13-0, 11 KOs) retained his WBO Africa middleweight title with a second-round KO victory over countryman and rival, Anthony Jarman (17-5-1, 10 KOs).
The two first met last April, when Ndjolonimu rose from an early knockdown to stop Jarman in the tenth and capture the WBO Africa middleweight title.
This time around, the 37-year-old Ndjolonimu was even better, hurting Jarman with a right in the first. The wobbly 34-year-old did well to hold on and make it out of the round.
The end came swiftly in the second, courtesy of another Ndjolonimu right hand which drove Jarman to the canvas for the full count.
