Namibia’s junior lightweight boxer Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas put up an impressive fight Saturday night to draw against Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar in an undercut fight in Philadelphia.
Lukas, who travelled to the United States of America after taking the fight on short notice, gave the heavily favoured Nyambayar a very difficult fight in the opener of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader from Borgata Event Centre.
The 10-round bout resulted in a controversial split draw after referee Eddie Claudio called what should have been ruled a knockdown for Lukas early in the eighth round, a slip.
At the end of the 10 rounds, Judge Anthony Lundy scored the fight in favour of Lukas 96-94, while judge Ron McNair scored the fight 96-94 for Nyambayar and Judge Robin Taylor scored it a draw, 95-95.
The 37-year-old Namibian replaced Nyambayar’s original opponent, Vic Pasillas, on less than one week’s notice because Pasillas contracted COVID-19. Pasillas has a record of 27 fights, 25 wins, one loss and one draw, with 17 of his wins coming via knockout.
In an interview with Nampa on Sunday, his promoter and trainer Immanuel ‘Imms’ Moses said the performance by Lukas spoke for itself.
“As a boxing stable we don’t have sponsors so we keep our boxers in shape throughout the year so that when we are called upon, we are always ready to fight,” he said.
He added that the referees’ decision during the fight was sad but them taking the fight has opened up a lot of doors for them because many in the boxing world saw what a Namibian boxer can do.
“Last time we were in America we came up short, but we kept our heads high and sent Desert Storm to Mexico where he had two fights that he won. We came back here and gave a good performance last night and we are happy with what Desert Storm displayed in the ring as he flew the Namibian flag high,” Moses said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
