Harry Junior has a clean record again

Namibia lightweight boxer Harry Simon Junior has been celebrating the official re-instatement of his unbeaten record as a professional fighter on social media this week.

On behalf of the 26-year-old, American boxing production company Lion Heart recently reached arbitration with the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (ZNBWCB) regarding a dispute involving their fighter and reigning African Boxing Union lightweight champion Issa Aliyah Phiri.

A standoff had arisen from the three judges’ decision on 14 July 2023 in Harare to award a win to the Zimbabwean in a contest against Harry Simon Jr.

The arbitrator, Angeline Mudada from the Sports and Recreation Commission, has since declared the Phiri-Simon fight a “no contest” citing its non-compliance with the boxing regulations of Zimbabwe.

Phiri and Simon Jr were scheduled to fight over eight rounds, but the contest was stopped in the sixth.

More discrepancies cited by Lion Heart before the arbitrator were that there was no valid contract between the fighters, they differed in weight, there was no weigh-in and no medical tests and the promoter failed to make the purse money available.

In the analysis of evidence before her, Mudada noted that the boxers were in different weight categories. Phiri was at 66 kg and Simon Jr at 63 kg.

“It is unlawful to sanction boxers in different categories to fight one another in a match.

“In addition, no ZNBWCB representative was present at the weigh in... the two fighters were, therefore, not supposed to be allowed to fight each other in the first place."