Ali Nuumbembe retires and quits Britain by Terry Dooley Jan 18th 2008

Ali Nuumbembe's announcement that he is returning to his native Namibia is sad news for Manchester boxing as we lose one of our best fighters, as well as losing a great ambassador for the sport itself. Growing up in Namibia Ali was reminded of the dangers posed by the instability of his country early in life when SWAPO soldiers entered his school to interrogate him and his friends. Ali's father was also placed under arrest and was forced to live in such poor conditions his health and mobility was permanently affected. Despite this Ali never lost his faith in general, or his belief in his own potential, and soon became a force on the Namibian amateur scene. Nuumbembe settled in Manchester following his 2002 Commonwealth Games Bronze medal win. As a professional Ali went to work with trainer Bob Shannon and the two soon forged a close relationship. Ali also had his friend and surrogate father figure Chad ‘Chado' Parker, who did a lot of work in order to facilitate Ali's stay here in the UK. Nuumbembe did not get any favours upon turning professional yet was constantly in the gym working hard. This paid-off when he came in at late notice to fight the then rising David Barnes. In fighting Barnes to a draw Nuumbembe signalled his intent to be more than the guy in the other corner, as well as knocking Barnes' confidence askew. Further progress was attempted off the back of this draw, however Nuumbembe, turning down UK citizenship due to his love of Namibia, was tied in terms of the titles he could pick-up whilst fighting in the UK. A series of wins seemingly set Ali up for a tilt at the welterweight Commonwealth title and in Ali's mind it was only a matter of time before he held this belt aloft. Unfortunately Nuumbembe needed to remain busy and keep earning in order to justify his work permit, this lead him to take a dangerous bout against Ajose Olusegun in London in 2006, at a weight lower than Nuumbembe had expected to box at. His pre-fight weight loss was extreme and the fighter had to shift further weight on the day of the weigh-in. Olusegun boxed well but it was not against the sprightly Nuumbembe we had previously seen. Ajose's southpaw stance was also a big hindrance. Despite the loss Ali showed his mental strength and came all the way back. In fact he can leave these shores with a moral victory. When they last shared a bill, on December 8th 2007, Ali was defending his Commonwealth title whereas Olusegun still seems to think the sport owes him fights against Junior Witter and Ricky Hatton; Ajose fought a fairly typical undercard bout against limited opposition that night. Dark days followed the Olusegun fight as Nuumbembe agonised over whether he would still maintain his Commonwealth ranking. The fighter had lost weight and taken a fight at short notice to do boxing a favour and had to hope that the favour would be reciprocated with a title shot. That shot finally came up as he took on Kevin Anderson for the Commonwealth welterweight title belt in Anderson's home country of Scotland. Despite boxing the best he had boxed thus far Anderson trailed off as the fight went on. With Shannon's fitness regime paying off Ali almost broke Anderson in half with a left hook to the body, he then took the final rounds to nick the title away from home (doubly so given his displacement in Britain), and in one of the best fights of 2007 to boot. Ali's first defence of the title ended in heartbreak as he lost by TKO to Craig Watson on December 8th 2007. The nature of the loss was exacerbated by the fact that Ali had been cut in the third round but was allowed to box on for round after round, he was then stopped in the ninth, just as he was turning the fight around and getting his own shots off. Watson, despite opening the cut, had played the percentages and had been scoring with amateurish point-scoring blows, as the fight had gathered pace Ali had been landing the more professional shots. Despite his disappointment at the nature of the loss, and the timing of the stoppage, Ali was not bitter after the fight. Given the fact that he so clearly missed home it is no surprise that Ali has decided to head back to Namibia. His father passed away recently so Nuumbembe must have decided that his family needs him more than he needs boxing and has done the right thing for his family. I am personally left with some good memories of Ali the fighter but it is the man who really impressed me.  On one occasion I took the cross-Pennine trip to Sheffield with Ali in order to watch him spar Junior Witter. Ali had been enthused about sparring a world ranked fighter like Junior but unfortunately Witter failed to show. Despite this, the seemingly endless Ingle reservoir of fighters provided ample sparring and Nuumbembe's trademark grin and easy going nature was not knocked askew by this knock back. Nor has he ever complained about any of the problems that boxing has brought his way. Nuumbembe was sent to London on a suicide mission in that fateful fight with Ajose, bereft of strength at the weight and fighting for the money it was a fight that mentally and physically drained Nuumbembe. For this writer it had a big impact on Ali, the smile would still be there post-fight but it was a hard defeat to take, it was certainly not a fight that we would give to a pampered British fighter with a title shot pending. In my mind Nuumbembe was sacrificed to Ajose in that fight (and perhaps the Watson bout), ironic really given that it was Ali who later moved onto a title shot. I also vividly recall covering my first local show for BBN at a Nuumbembe bout as he boxed Sergey Starkov in Trafford. Ali's voracious fans created a great atmosphere that day. After the bout I approached Ali to offer congratulations on his win, he gave me a big hug and his trademark smile before being ushered away by an enthused group of fellow Namibians. Nuumbembe was also a first early interviewee for me, his story was a compelling one and it was one I will always be grateful to have heard firsthand. As a fighter it was always a pleasure to watch him, as a man it was an honour to meet him and listen to his life story.  From little things like rising to shake hands when a person enters or leaves a room to his dedicated attitude to the sport Nuumbembe was a breath of fresh air in British boxing and this writer wishes him all the best for his future. Below is a link to an interview with the fighter in which he talks about his remarkable life: www.britishboxing.net/news_1238-BBN-Speaks-to-Paulus-Ali-Nuumbembe:-The-Pride-of-Namibia-and-Britain.html

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spot on! Jan 18th 2008, 08:50:39 by jameshoward Ali is a top lad who will be missed.... what a life story!