Tommy Gun set to return to squared circle
Oosthuizen’s out-of-ring antics, which have derailed his career and dented his reputation in the boxing fraternity, have been well documented.
East Rand boxing superstar Thomas ‘Tommy Gun’ Oosthuizen will return to the squared circle at Emperors Palace on March 21 in a big opportunity to revive his career.
The multiple former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) champion has promised Golden Gloves chiefs, fans, and, most importantly, himself that he’s put his troubles behind him.
It was made official on January 31 at Golden Gloves offices in Johannesburg that Oosthuizen’s return to the ring will be a cruiserweight clash during the All or Nothing show against Ukrainian Roman Golovashchenko, whose last visit to South African shores was in June 2018 in a loss to IBO cruiserweight champion Kevin Lerena.
The bout is on the undercard of Golden Gloves’s final segment of the Four at War sequel which will be headlined by the final of the junior middleweight knockout competition contested between Brandon Thysse and Boyd Allen.
The star-studded card will also feature a third/fourth place fight, which is part of the junior middleweight knockout competition.
The bronze medal bout will be contested between Roarke Knapp and Tristan Truter, who lost their semi-finals late last year against Thysse and Allen respectively.
Meanwhile, Oosthuizen is expected to be fuelled by his burning desire to get back to winning ways – a statement one would not usually associate with the Hammer Gym senior pugilist.
You will have to go back to June of 2018 for the last time the lanky southpaw striker earned the ‘W’ against rival Thabiso Mchunu. Before that, you would have to go back to April of 2017 for his last win.
Interviewed by fellow boxing great Brian Mitchell at Golden Gloves in Joburg, Oosthuizen (28-3-2; 16) admitted: “I’ve made some bad choices, but at the end of the day, I’m back.
“We [he and trainer Harold Volbrecht] are campaigning at a higher weight level because there’s a lot of activity in the cruiserweight division. Not to say we’re not thinking about going back to light heavyweight, but yes, we’re campaigning in the cruiserweight division and we’re looking forward to March 21.
“Training is going well; I’m training with Johnny Muller, who is also preparing for a fight in Germany on March 28, so we’re back in full force.
“We have a brilliant team and we’ve been in the gym for a couple of weeks now.”
A relaxed Volbrecht on the other hand seemed more confident of a win for his client.
“He [Golovashchenko] is quite a strong guy, but I’m not taking Tommy into the ring to show Golovashchenko how much power Tommy has, but we’re going to show the opponent the kind of technique Tommy has.
“Tommy is much quicker than him and he is getting his footwork together. He’s getting his hand speed and head movement together, so I just think he’s going to outclass him and be too smart for this guy.”
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