Julius Indongo Is Coming For The Throne

If Terence Crawford isn’t nervous, he should be.

John Cudney Blocked Unblock Follow Following Apr 17, 2017

“This is a victory for Namibia and the whole of Africa!” exclaimed Julius Indongo following his victory over Ricky Burns at the the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland in front of 10,000-plus hostile fans. With the win, Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo became the unified IBF and WBA Super Lightweight World Champion. Entering the fight, Ricky Burns was a three division world champion and he was gracious in defeat. “The better man won tonight”, stated Burns following the fight. This was an eye-opening win for the world of boxing, and Terence Crawford is certainly paying attention.

This has been a long road for the Blue Machine and this is a historic day for Namibian boxing. Indongo is Namibia’s fourth world champion boxer and he is now its first unified champion. He trains out of the Sunshine Boxing Academy in Windhoek, the largest city and capital of Namibia. Julius Indongo represented Namibia at the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, but his professional rise has been slow owing to the limited number of options afforded to boxers from Namibia. His life changed on December 13th 2016 when he faced Eduard Troyanovsky in Moscow, Russia for the IBF title. Not one to squander an opportunity, the Blue Machine won by devastating first round KO.

Indongo’s KO win over Troyanovsky

It’s worth noting here that Indongo still has a day job, and he made sure to thank them following his victory in Moscow last year: “Thanks to the Namibian Police Force for providing me with enough time to train”. Following that win, Indongo was granted power for the first time in his career, and he used it to secure a bout against Scotland’s Ricky Burns. It was known that a win against Burns would bring even greater glory, and this was not lost on his countrymen.

Before departing for Scotland, Indongo received the blessing of Namibia’s founding father Dr. Sam Nujoma. “Thank you for a job well done and for putting Namibia on the map… You have made Namibia very proud and we are confident that you will take him down,” he said, adding, “Aluta Continua! (The Struggle Continues!)”.

The magnitude of Julius Indongo’s win against Burns cannot be overstated. His country watched the fight with rapt attention on NBC, most notably the President of Namibia himself Hage Geingob. Geingob was so appreciative of the win that he granted Indongo’s wish and made this Monday (4/17/2017) a public holiday.

Not everyone was so ecstatic. In response to the victory, Burns’ promoter Eddie Hearn bluntly stated “We hoped Indongo wasn’t quite as good as that.” Though he did add that he won a promotional option on Indongo with the win.

Eddie Hearn reacts to Indongo’s win over Burns, Kugan Cassius/iFL TV

“We hoped Indongo wasn’t quite as good as that” — Eddie Hearn

What’s next for Julius Indongo? As stated above, Eddie Hearn secured a promotional option on Indongo as a condition of signing the Ricky Burns fight. This means that Hearn has the power to either steer Indongo to one of his own fighters, or to send him off for a big money international showdown.

Regarding the former, a rematch with Burns is possible, and Matchroom upstart Ohara Davies called out Indongo immediately following the fight (“I’ll knock that bum out!”). Regarding the latter, it looks like Indongo will have no shortage of options. Eduard Troyanovsky has stated that he wants a rematch with Indongo this fall. Sergey Lipinets (backed by Al Haymon in America) has stated that he’s owed a mandatory challenge against Indongo’s new IBF title.

But there is one name that stands above all others: Terence Crawford. Crawford is the current owner of the WBC and WBO titles that Indongo would require to complete his perfect set. Crawford is also a pound-for-pound standout and he would definitely represent the biggest payday for Indongo’s next fight. Prior to the Burns fight, Crawford stated that he would look forward to fighting the winner “ I’m gonna wanna fight the champion that comes out of Ricky Burns and Indongo. That’s the fight that I want, the winner of that.” But Crawford has been notably mum since Indongo silenced the crowd in Glasgow. While fellow super-lightweights have been calling out Indongo, Crawford’s silence has been deafening.