10.09.07 – Commonwealth welterweight king Ali Nuumbembe has been added to the September 21 show at York Hall in London, England headlined by British bantamweight champion Ian Napa’s dangerous defense against Lee Haskins. Nuumbembe, 18-2-1 (6), will face many challenges in the form of Ghana’s towering Phillip Kotey, 19-4-1 (12), and to retain his belt, the 29 year old must pull off another career best performance, such as the Commonwealth title winning effort over previously undefeated Scotsman Kevin Anderson this past February.
At 5 foot 11, Kotey will have a massive edge in height and reach. Add a granite jaw to the southpaw stance of the West African and this, in all likelihood, will be the most difficult bout of Nuumbembe’s career.
In 2005, Kotey dropped highly rated South African champion Joseph Makaringe in the first round and proceeded to hurt the Johannesburg man several times during the course of the vacant WBC International title bout before the Ghanaian suffering a highly controversial referee stoppage in the eleventh.
In the middle of his prime at 25 years of age, Kotey has promised supporters in his tradition-rich homeland that he will return home with nothing less than Nuumbembe’s Commonwealth title belt.
Photo ©Jane Warburton/MMG
But Nuumbembe, a winner of 144 of 155 amateur fights for Namibia, has declared his opponent’s pledge as groundless boasting and plans on extracting a high price from the visitor for as long as the bout lasts.
In addition, the undercard of Napa vs.Haskins features other outstanding contests such as Jason Booth’s challenge of reigning English bantamweight titlist Jamie McDonnel and the highly anticipated eight round scrap between light middles Gary Woolcombe and Jason Rushton.
Also in action at York Hall are featherweight Akaash Bhatia, super feather Ian Wilson, light middle Sam Webb, light heavy Tony Salem, welter Scott Woolford and super middle Dwayne Lewis.
Frank Maloney Promotions presents “Boxing Is Coming Home”, headlined by Ian Napa vs. Lee Haskins for the Bantamweight Championship of Britain, at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London, England on Friday, September 21, 2007.
Tickets are £75 ringside and £45 general admission and can be purchased by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0871 226 1508. Doors open at 6:45PM
Sky Sports will televise the main bouts live on SS1 starting at 22:00 GMT.
Press release composed by Curtis McCormick for www.frankmaloney.com