by Tomi Pradarics

Unbeaten contender Sakaria Lukas returned to the ring for the first time in over 17 months when he co-headlined a show this past Friday in Zimbabwe.

The Namibian Lukas (22-0, 15 KOs), who once was ranked as high as No. 2 by the WBO at featherweight, felt comfortable at 130 pounds and grabbed a clean victory over Zimbabwean Ndodana Ncube (6-2, 5 KOs).

Lukas controlled the action from the get-go and was able to shift gears that culminated in a technical knockout win thanks to a well-placed body shot in the eighth session.

“The fight presented me an ideal platform to get rid of the ring rust after having last fought in December 2017. I felt the signs of the detrimental effects on my timing and fluidity especially in the third round,” stated Lukas to BoxingScene.com after he arrived home to Windhoek, Namibia.

“Going into the fight I knew that I was facing an opponent who is young, energetic and with the ability to knockout me out if I didn't pay attention to the detail which is very evident on his record having won 5 out of his 6 wins via knockout. My game plan was focused on slowing down my opponent’s footwork, sap his endurance and take some steam out of his punches without underestimating his ability.”

Lukas’s manager, Knowledge Ipinge is satisfied with the result of this comeback fight and made sure the victory was half won in the gym during preparation.

“I'm very happy that our training camp focused a lot on improving Sakaria's punching technique and physical conditioning which combined with his experience was critical to his ability to take his opponent out in the 8th round via that brutal body punch,” said Ipinge.

With the win, Lukas is back into the picture and, according to his manager, he is scheduled to have another tune-up bout later this month.

“Now, it is back to the drawing board and Sakaria is expected to be back in the gym [on Monday] afternoon to prepare for his next fight [on May 24] in Namibia.”

The route of Team Lukas is clearly in the direction of the world titles in either featherweight or super featherweight.

“Our immediate plan is to reclaim Sakaria's rightful position in the division by getting him back into the rankings and hopefully get his much-anticipated title shot against any of the champions with the first option still remaining Oscar Valdez.”

The Mexican Valdez (25-0, 20 KOs) is holding the WBO championship belt at 126 pounds and having his next ring appearance in the form of a voluntary defense against unbeaten Jason Sanchez (14-0, 7 KOs) on June 8th in Reno, Nevada.

You can reach Tomi Pradarics at pradaricst@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @TomiPradarics.