One Night, Two UBO World Titles On The Line In Tanzania

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January 10, 2020 / BY UBO PRESS OFFICER

The card will be topped by two Universal Boxing Organization™ (UBO) World Championship fights featuring local stars, one of which will be an all-Tanzanian shoot-out.

The main event will see Tanga´s UBO International Champion Salimu Jengo (13-3, 8 KOs) square off with Thailand´s Suriya Tatakhun (61-6, 41 KOs) for the vacant UBO World Lightweight title.

While Jengu (24) has gathered more success and over-all experience than most in only sixteen outings, this will be his seventh title bout, it is nothing compared to what Tatakhun (34), AKA Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo, has done.

A former WBC Asian Champion, a title he defended an astounding twenty-six (!) times, three-time WBO Asia-Pacific Champion, and PABA Champion, Tatakhun has lost three previous world title-challenges.

In 2012 he dropped a decision to Chris John (WBA Featherweight) in Indonesia, in 2014 he lost on points to Vasiliy Lomachenko (WBO Featherweight) in Macao, and in 2016 he was stopped in four rounds by Miguel Berchelt (WBO Super Featherweight) in Mexico.

Now he hopes it will be fourth-time-lucky against Jengu, who has one failed previous world title-challenge on his ledger (WBF Lightweight vs. Xolisani Ndongeni in 2018), and is equally hungry to become world champion.

In the co-feature, Mchanja Bakari (9-2, 7 KOs) from Tanga will take on Dar Es Salaam´s Sunday Kiwale (14-10-5, 7 KOs), a Tanzanian national champion who´s mediocre statistics doesn't do him justice, for the vacant UBO World Light Flyweight title.

Bakari has youth on his side at twenty-seven, but he is lacking in experience compared to his older opponent. However, in 2018 he proved his worth when he made a good account of himself in Ghana, losing a decision to 11-0 Aliu Bamidele Lasisi for a WBC title.

Last time out, this past September, he impressively stopped former UBO All-Africa Flyweight titlist and two-time Tanzanian national Super Flyweight ruler Haji Juma in eight rounds, to line up the biggest fight of his life against Kiwale.

35-year-old Kiwale has only lost twice in his last twelve outings, both on foreign soil against undefeated local boxers, drawing twice, after only managing to win six, and draw in three, of his first seventeen. Should he become world champion on January 31, it will be something of a fairy-tale story.