Harry Simon kept alive his dream of challenging for a world title when he notched up the 27th win of his professional career on Saturday at the SKW Hall. Simon who is in talks with the WBO for a crack at the cruiserweight title scored a crucial win to underline his credentials as a possible contender for the WBO cruiserweight title.

Fighting the tough-talking Ruben Groenewald from South Africa, Simon was close to his best as he used his trademark aggression to put an end to proceedings in 1 minute 23 seconds of the first round. It was perhaps an anti-climax for the thousands of fans who packed the venue to witness Simon’s first fight in over a year. Before the fight Groenewald had trash-talked Simon and promised to give him the beating of a lifetime.

The fight started at a tentative pace with both fighters sussing each other out. However this soon changed as Simon began to find his range.

A series of body blows had Groenewald down on his knee. He beat the eighth count, but Simon had exposed his weak-point and like the world class boxer that he is moved in for the kill. He pinned his opponent against the ropes and using the hand speed that won him accolades in the past landed hard punches to the rib area of the South African, who again went down. This time the fight was over as Groenewald’s corner threw in the towel to save their man from further punishment, giving Simon a TKO win.

According to the marketer of the fight, Theobald Mukena, the win opens doors for Simon. In a post-fight interview Mukena noted that sponsors had been reluctant to sponsor Simon, but the turnout of the fans and Simon’s performance should have done enough to convince any sponsor that Simon is still on top of his game.

Groenewald blamed the referee for stopping the fight and has called for a rematch. “I was not hurt,” claimed the South African. “The reason I went down was because of a low blow from Simon. The referee should have noticed this,” insisted Groenewald.

In the main supporting bout Albinus Felesianu easily beat Charles Hawuseni from Zambia to score a first round knockout. The Zambian hardly threw a punch and was caught with a straight left by Felesianu. The punch which looked soft dropped the Zambian and he failed to get up.  Pohamba Mandume had a night to forget as he was taught a boxing lesson by Ezaya Chilufya from Zambia. Chilufya out-punched Mandume only for the judges to surprisingly declare the fight a draw after 6 rounds. In an exciting featherweight encounter Gotlieb Ndokosho jabbed his way to victory over Ronald Tamani from Zimbabwe. Ndokosho, one of the country’s most promising prospects, was clinical as he used his jab to good effect throughout the fight and in the 6th round he pinned the Zimbabwean in the corner and hurt him with hard hooks to the head, resulting in the Zimbabwean’s corner throwing in the towel to give the win to Ndokosho.