Uisma Lima (13-1) agreed to defend his IBO junior middleweight championship in hostile territory on May 31st but only if there was a dominant number of neutral officials. And so it will be. Lima was born in Angola and fights out of Portugal. The undefeated champ will risk his belt against against undefeated Shervantaigh Koopman, a South African, in South Africa The  IBO has assigned referee Mikael Hook of Sweden, and judges Howard Foster of the UK, Tony Nyangiwe of South Africa and Roger Nii Bonney Barnor of Ghana. Local man Andile Matika will be the fight commissioner.

 

Lima’s request shouldn’t be surprising given several dramas that have played out in local rings in recent years. Hook is as experienced as they come, having judged over 450 bouts and refereed almost 300 all across Europe and the Middle East. Foster, too, is vastly experienced, having officiated over 2000 bouts, one of the most recent being Martin Bakole against Efe Ajagba. He also worked Jaime Munguia versus Bruno Curace a fortnight ago. Nyangiwe, from Soweto, is also very experienced and recently entered his third decade of work as a boxing official. Barnor, who has had assignments mainly in west Africa, has done over 1000 fights and brings the weight of that experience to Emperors Palace on May 31st.