Walvis Bay Mayor Trevino Forbes says sports can help Namibians deal with the effects of COVID-19, and could especially help the harbour town as it was at one point the epicentre of the outbreak in Namibia.
Speaking in Windhoek during the launch of the MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy’s ‘Together as One Part 5’ event on Monday, Forbes said hosting the boxing tournament will be a real morale booster for the town.
The tournament is scheduled for Walvis Bay on 04 December.
“This event will boost our economy as a town. I therefore call on all the locals to get involved in an event of this magnitude, especially the business aspect of it,” he said.
Forbes added that the Walvis Bay Municipality is busy reviving dilapidated sports facilities like the Narraville Rugby Stadium and the Kuisebmond Stadium.
“We will also reach out to schools and help them out with their facilities, while providing our facilities to them for use. We are not planning on building any new stadium at the moment, we just want to repair the ones we have,” he explained.
The mayor further encouraged other municipalities to make sure they have a youth and sports development budget to keep the youth fit and healthy as they are Namibia’s future.
He said as a municipality, they will assist the academy with the accommodation for the boxers and venue for the event.
Meanwhile, Nestor Tobias, the founder of the academy, said they are focusing on development, hence the decision to take boxing all over the country with the aim of unearthing new talent.
“You cannot rely on old guys alone, you need the youth to take over from the older guys when they retire. We have a lot of upcoming boxers in our stable, hence we have added three national titles on the undercard,” he explained.
Tobias said most boxers will come from the coast, and hoped that this tournament would inspire other young boxers at the coast to take boxing seriously.
There are 13 bouts scheduled for the event, including three national titles and two international titles. Matheus Heita will fight Tinashe Mwadziwana for the World Boxing Organisation’s Super Bantamweight Pan Africa Title over 12 rounds.
Some of the match-ups for the night:
Bantamweight National Title, eight rounds
Andreas Mwenyo versus (vs) Lazarus Namalambo
Featherweight National Title, 10 rounds
Martin Mukungu vs Immanuel Jason
National Super Bantamweight Title, 10 rounds
Philipus Shaanika vs Joseph Abel
Super Middleweight International Title, six rounds
Max Ipinge vs Tinashe Zihove (Zimbabwe)
International Featherweight Title, 10 rounds
Sebastian Nathaniel vs Steven Bagwasi (Botswana)
WBO Pan Africa Superbantam Weight Title, 12 rounds
Matheus Heita vs Tinashe Mwadziwana (Zimbabwe)
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
