Indongo's superfight confirmed

Indongo's superfight confirmed Newly crowned IBF and IBO world champion Julius 'Blue Machine' Indongo will next face WBA world champion Ricky Burns from Scotland.

This was announced by the MTC Sunshine Academy's promoter Nestor Tobias yesterday.

According to Tobias, negotiations with Matchroom Promotions have been concluded successfully.

“It cannot get any bigger than this in the world of boxing, where three world title belts from different sanctioning bodies will be on the line.

“The biggest question remains, who will walk away as the IBF, WBA and IBO Junior Welterweight champion on the night,” he said.

The superfight will take place on 15 April at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland - a 10 000-seat venue expected to be crowded with Scottish and English fans and Sky Sports will broadcast the fight across the world.

“We are excited to have successfully negotiated this superfight, it is a fight that the world is waiting to see and Indongo is up to the task.

“From all the offers we received, we made the right choice choosing Burns, who is also a respected champion in his own right, and unifying the title was definitely the best decision because it increases the value of the bout across the world,” said Tobias.

Indongo stunned the boxing world when he knocked down IBF and IBO world champion Eduard Troyanovsky within 40 seconds.

He is now not only a double world champion but also remains undefeated after 21 fights.

His opponent, Ricky Burns, became a three-weight world champion when he won the WBA world championship belt in 2016 against Michele Di Rocco and successfully defended his title in October 2016 against Kiryl Relikh.

In 2012, he defeated Namibian Paulus 'The Hitman' Moses to retain the WBO Lightweight title and will enter the ring with a record of 47 fights, 41 wins, five losses and one draw.

The Namibian champion is chuffed by the opportunity, saying: “It is an absolute honour for me to fight another world champion.

“Ricky is an accomplished champion, I respect what he has achieved so far, but I am going to Scotland with the grace of God, and all the hard work I have put in so far to take his WBA belt from him.

“I know it won't be easy, but I have a good team with passionate Namibian fans and I intend to make them smile on 15 April,” said Indongo.

Burns has also expressed excitement about fighting the Namibian world champion.

“When Julius Indongo knocked out Eduard Troyanovsky he was immediately an opponent I was interested in. Indongo can clearly punch and that's an impressive way to win a world title, especially in Russia. It was some shot he hit Troyanovsky with.

“It's a huge fight in the division and the kind of fight I need to be involved in at this stage of my career,” he said.

Burns indicated that there were other names talked about but he wanted the toughest, most dangerous fight out there.

“Indongo with his two belts was that man. He is a big, tall, rangy, southpaw but bring it on - I have no fear of anyone and it is only the massive fights for me now.”

SPORT REPORTER