Oosthuizen gets upper hand

ALTHOUGH Tommy Oosthuizen walked away with the IBO light-heavy weight crown all credit must go to Ryno Liebenberg, never giving up and showing a big heart in this showpiece of boxing in front of a packed crowd.

The boxing fraternity was treated to some explosive boxing, which laid the foundation upfront for the rest of the year. The sold out Stand and Deliver Box ‘n Dine delivered all the set pieces which was expected by the audience who attended on Saturday March 14 at Emperors Palace, presented by Golden Gloves in conjunction with SuperSport.

Oosthuizen, the former IBO Super Middleweight champion, raked in points with his long arm jabs to build up a substantial points’ difference between him and Liebenberg. The combination of Harold Volbrecht/Oosthuizen-camp were in a class of their own. Oosthuizen constantly working down Liebenberg with his combination of a fury of punches to the body and then to the head. He also eliminated Liebenberg’s right punch by grabbing onto it and holding on turning his body in order for his opponent to come out as the culprit in front of referee Grzegorz Molenda from Poland.

Oosthuizen won on split decision by the judges 113/115; 117/111; 117/111.

But although the scoreline suggests an easy win for Oosthuizen, Liebenberg, who looked in excellent form, gave his all to be a worthy opponent. Finally the question of who is the better boxer in this division has now made way for where these two boxers are heading for.

According to Promotor Rodney Berman, Oosthuizen will get his chance in the USA, while Liebenberg will probably show his class in the super-middleweight division.

In the undercard of the evening, Alberton boxer, Dowayne Combrink and Giovanni Busby put up with a great fight for the WBA Pan African middle weight title, but their efforts ended up in a draw by the judges, 116/114; 113/115; 114/114.

The two boxers will now continue with their grudge fights in June and meet for the third time. Combrink started off on fine foot under the watchful eye of Harold Volbrect, but could not pull off a win. At times Bushby had Combrink out on his feet, but the he hung on and lived to see another fight called out by promotor Rodney Berman.

Manny Fernandes from BRD Boxing Academy in the South had split success with his boxers. Jasper Seroka, notching up the South African junior-light weight title, made Ashley Dlamini quit in the seventh round, winning by TKO 2:52. Thomson Mokwana could just not make the cut going down to a hard-hitting Richard Commey from Ghana for the Commonwealth light weight title. Commey won by TKO in the seventh round after 20 seconds.