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Namibian stylist Bethuel Ushona
felt hard done by when he came
out on the wrong end of a split
decision against Germany´s Deniz
Ilbay for the vacant World
Boxing Federation (WBF) World
Welterweight title last June.
Unfortunately Ilbay refused to
honor a mandated rematch, and
chose to vacate the
championship.
Instead Ushona fought former
European champion Rafal
Jackiewicz from Poland for the
vacant title on Saturday,
December 3, in Windhoek, and
this time there was no doubt
that the local man deserved to
be crowned world champion in
front of his adoring fans.
But he had to survive a scare in
the first round, as Jackiewicz
came out strong and fast and
managed to drop the local man.
But Ushona beat the count of
referee Darryl Ribbink, and from
the second round on he showed
that he was the more skilled
boxer of the two.
Knowing he could hurt Ushona,
Jackiewicz continued to try to
land his hard shots to body and
head, but Ushona for the most
part kept him at bay. The
visitor remained game and tough
throughout, and it was always a
very competitive and
entertaining fight for the fans
to watch.
After twelve brutal, but fair
rounds, judge Lazarus Nainda
scored the fight 115-112, while
judge Timo Haikonda scored it
116-111 and judge Eddie Marshal
saw it as 118-109 for Ushona
(34), who after fourteen years
as a professional finally
realized his dream of winning a
world title.
Ushona took his professional
ledger to 35-5-1 (9), while
Jackiewicz, a pro since 2001,
falls to 48-16-2 (22). The fight
was promoted by Salute Boxing
Academy.
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