Local boxers battle it out at Emperors
Victory went to Koopman whose record stands at 4-0 all via knockout.
It was a boxing bonanza when fighters affiliated with Edenvale’s Brian Mitchell Boxing Academy and Durandt’s Boxing & Fitness Gym in Linksfield took to the ring.
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The boxers competed in the undercard of The Eliminator Box and Dine Tournament at Emperors Palace’s Centre Court on May 13.
Opening the evening’s proceedings was Edenvale’s Beaven Sibanda of Edenvale who took on Sandile Wessels of the Eastern Cape.
The pair faced off in a four-round junior flyweight contest.
While Sibanda only joined the professional ranks last year, he has shown great promise under the watchful eye of trainer Vusi Mtolo.
Sibanda won his four previous fights and won his match against Wessels with a TKO victory in the third round.
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Not to be outdone, stablemate and Primrose resident Keanu Koopman made short work of his welterweight bout.
Set to go six rounds, Koopman, who is also new to the professional ranks, sent Pieter de Klerk to the canvas in the second round.
Koopman’s record stands at 4-0 all via knockout.
Despite the initial momentum of Brian Mitchell Boxing Academy, things did not go as planned for the academy’s other two boxers Gift Bholo and Miranda Malajika on the night. The duo both suffered losses.
Bholo lost to Durandt’s Ntethelelo ‘Baby G’ Nkosi while Malajika lost to Nthethelelo Zimbabwean Ndabazinhle Phiri of Alexandra.
Baby G, who is trained by Damian Durand, won on a unanimous points decision in the six-round junior welterweight battle.
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Malajika lost his four-round junior bantamweight clash on a split points decision.
In the headline bout of the night, Fourways’ Kevin ‘Two Guns’ Lerena beat Ryad Merhy of Belgium on a unanimous points decision to take home the WBC Bridgerweight Silver belt and earn the opportunity to challenge Lukasz Rozanski for the WBC Bridgerweight world title.
In the main supporting bout, Keaton Gomes of Linden stopped Joshua Pretorius of Richards Bay in the fourth round to retain his South African heavyweight title.
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