Boxing: Good times end for Tommy in Germany
Former IBO super-middleweight champion Tommy Oosthuizen fell to a convincing unanimous decision defeat to lose his professional unbeaten record against Igor Mikhalkin for the vacant IBO light-heavyweight title.
The Russian (31) improved his record to 20-1; 9 while Oosthuizen’s fell to 27-1-1; 16 on Friday, May 19.
It was a deserved win for Mikhalkin, who was a step faster and a punch sharper than Oosthuizen, who was having his third bout in nearly two years, and the rustiness certainly told in Hamburg, Germany.
The much-shorter Mikhalkin used his height disadvantage to his advantage as he stayed close to his South African opponent, making it hard for Oosthuizen (29) to land clean hits throughout the fight.
The judging panel was made up of two Italians and a German. The latter scored it 118-109 while the Italian duo scored it 118-110.
Little might’ve been known of Mikhalkin on SA shores before the fight, but the Russian will now always be remembered as the man who ended Oosthuizen’s undefeated streak. – @SabeloBoksburg
