Bring me Nathan, says Ali
Nadi’s lightweight boxer Muhammad Ali has openly challenged Nathan ‘Hornet’ Singh to fight him next.
This was after Ali won on a third round technical knockout (TKO) over Benjamin Joseph during the Kiran Boxing Promotion at Prince Charles Park, Nadi, on Saturday night. “I trained well for this fight, now I am hungry to fight a worthy opponent like Nathan Singh,” Ali, who is the son of former Fiji welterweight champion Junior ‘The Razor’ Farzan Ali, said.
“I am ready for Nathan Singh. It’s good to talk less and get into action.”
In the main bout Junior Binnu Singh of the Sigatoka Valley retained the Fiji super bantamweight title fight after challenger Rahul Kumar threw in the towel at the start of the second round. Singh said he was disappointed since he wanted to put on a good show for his fans.
“I wanted it to go into the third or fourth round. My fans are disappointed too. I want my opponents to be honest with themselves,” he said.
In the main supporting bout Franco Fraser and Robin Hazelman’s clash ended in technical draw. This was after Fraser fell out of the ring and injured himself.
Fiji heavyweight champion James Singh easily knocked out Sociceni Qiolevu in the first minute of the first round.
Light heavyweight boxer Alivereti Kubunavanua beat Kolinio Luvelolo on points.
Seaside Boxing Club’s Fredrick Chand knocked out Nikesh Prasad in the first round while veteran Ritesh Goundar beat Rohenesh Chand in the bantamweight
contest.
‘Banana fights’
Meanwhile, former boxing promoter Simon Naushad has called on boxing stakeholders to be realistic and lift the image of the sport.
His comments came after the Kiran Boxing Promotion saw a lot of mismatches with many fights ending in the first round. Also, another disappointing factor was boxer Junior Feroz who did not turn up to fight. “The fans paid their way in and just to watch banana boxing is not the way to go,” Naushad said. “We need to lift the image of the sport or otherwise we’re killing it.”
Boxing Commission of Fiji chairman Subash Appana said: “There were loose ends we always wanted to tighten.
“What has happened is that a promoter came back after a long time and he is not on par with what we have done.
“This was a wake-up call to the stakeholders as well.”