Thysse impresses at SA Boxing Champs
Boksburg Boxing Club fighter Brandon-Lee Thysse impressed during the recently-held South African Championships, in Grahamstown.
Thysse was one card away from being crowned SA champion, but lost in the final fight of his middleweight division, via a split decision, following a promising run towards the ultimate bout.
Fresh from touching down in the small Eastern Cape town, the 21-year-old enjoyed a morale-boosting win in his first bout of the tournament.
He repeated the feat in his second fight, to book his appearance in the semi-finals, where he convincingly won to make it to the finals, before desperately losing via split decision.
Asked for his overall assessment of his performances at the national championships, the Lourens Ellis and Piet van Vuuren trainee replied: “It was a new experience for me but, overall, I am quite happy with how it went. Just a bit disappointed that I lost in the finals, but I learned a lot from it.”
Brandon-Lee, who is the son of former South African champion boxer André Thysse, earned his qualification to the national championships at the Gauteng Championships, held earlier this year in Pretoria, where he won in the finals and was crowned Boxer of the Tournament.
The upcoming boxer also explained how he drew inspiration from his more popular father to become a boxer.
“I look up to my dad – he was a boxer and also an SA champion, and he retired as an SA champion. He is also the reason I started boxing.
“He showed me that, with hard work and dedication comes great rewards and responsibilities, and he is my inspiration to always want to be better than I was yesterday, to make a success of what I have and always to be humble.”
Brandon-Lee’s amateur record improved to 18-4, with 10 KOs, after the SA champs. – @SabeloBoksburg
