Mchunu faces Tommy Gun to prove his cruiserweight number one status
The Centre Court at Emperors Palace, which will present the big fight, opens at 6.30pm with the action scheduled to get underway at 7pm.
Emperors Palace, the country and some parts of the world are anticipating the biggest cruiserweight bout in South Africa in a long time as Thabiso ‘The Rock’ Mchunu puts his African Boxing Union (ABU) cruiserweight title on the line against Thomas ‘Tommy Gun’ Oosthuizen at Golden Gloves’ Call to Glory showpiece on September 1.
It’s intriguing that both these cruiserweight heavyweights are southpaws and 30 years of age.
What’s more intriguing are the different advantages each pugilist possesses which the other doesn’t, which could make for a historic 12 rounder.
Despite weighing roughly the same weight, Mchunu is clearly the bigger and the stronger of the two. The champion is also at his comfort zone in the cruiserweight division, whereas for Tommy it’s foreign territory.
On the other side of the coin, Oosthuizen is the more experienced of the two, with 30 fights under his belt and boasting just a single loss, compared to Mchunu’s total of 23 and four losses.
At a towering 1.93m tall, almost half a ruler taller than the 1.8m tall champion, the challenger will also enjoy the reach advantage – accompanied by his superior hand speed.
But Mchunu also comes into this one with the momentum, a factor his trainer Sean Smith said could be the difference maker.
Mchunu took out Ricards Bolotniks at Emperors Palace a few weeks ago, whereas Oosthuizen’s last outing was last year May; and it was a loss, his first and only, in Germany against Russian Igor Mikhalkin.
When the Advertiser spoke to Smith, he explained: “All is good, Thabiso is doing great and is looking forward to the show. Thabiso had a nice outing in June so we haven’t had a lot to do as far as preparation is concerned. The wheels have been turning, he’s got momentum going for him. We didn’t have to do anything drastic, he’s fit.
“I give Thabiso the slight edge, objectively; I’m not saying this because I’m his trainer. He’s used to campaigning in the division but the sport is always full of surprises. The most important thing for me is that it’s an exciting fight.
“We’ve had bigger obstacles like when Thabiso faced Eddie Chambers in the States and won, and faced Oleksandr Usyk and lost. But I think locally, this is our biggest challenge.
“Thabiso is a good athlete who goes by living clean, I enjoy working with him.”
Meanwhile, in the Oosthuizen camp, trainer Harold Volbrecht said his client is as good as ready.
“Preparation has been going fine, Tommy did 12 rounds yesterday (August 20), everything is good. The interest is big on the fight which is also good.”
With his client widely tipped as the underdog going into this one, Volbrecht explained: “It’s not new territory, I feel Tommy is more experienced than Mchunu. It all comes down to how you train and arrive at the fight.
“What I do know about Tommy is that he never gives up and will die in that ring, and that to me is the difference.
“I take him every day for roadwork and I drive behind him and we’ve been sparring every day until Saturday (August 25). This week will be about sharpening technique.”
* It has been a rocky year so far for Oosthuizen, who has been convicted and sentenced for malicious injury to property and possession of drugs.
Despite Oosthuizen’s conviction, thus not cleared from any wrongdoing, he still has received a green light from Boxing SA to compete.
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