Golden Gloves

Being an ardent card player, Golden Gloves Promoter Rodney Berman believes he holds four ‘aces’ in a deck that could garner South African boxing it’s most exciting era in living memory!“We have four of the most vibrant fighters I can readily recall at our disposal at present, and each one represents a winning hand” said Berman, fresh from the “DAMOCLES” blockbuster tournament at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.

“Tommy Oosthuizen has to be the most murderous pound-for-pound puncher in South Africa at present, as witnessed by his 4th round destruction of SA super middleweight king Tshepang Mohale at the weekend” said Berman. The bolt-from-the-blue straight left which leveled the rugged Mohale, earned Oosthuizen his third title in 2009, namely the WBA Pan African super middleweight crown, which will now occupy a treasured place in his display cabinet alongside his previous championship kudos; the IBO Youth light heavyweight and IBO Youth super middleweight straps.

“Tommy is my ace of clubs” said Berman, clearly alluding to the club-like force that the 22-year-old Van Dyk Park possesses in his fists. “Next year, to coincide with the festivities of the soccer World Cup competition, Oosthuizen will be an intricate part of our plan to host one of the most enormous boxing tournaments ever seen in this country, and don’t be at all surprised if he wins a fourth championship title on the night” concluded Berman.

So who are the other boxers who make up Berman’s so-called ‘winning hand’?

“Lovemore Ndou is another of my trump cards and his forthcoming IBO welterweight championship defence in Manchester against Matthew Hatton (November 13), which we believe Ndou will win, could go a long way in convincing Matthew’s older brother Ricky to come out of retirement in order to fight Lovemore in South Africa and thereby restore family pride. Needless to say, if Ricky indeed decides to fight Ndou, we’ll be looking to stage the fight at Emperors Palace as a fitting fistic prelude to next year’s football world cup” said Berman. According to Berman, the 37-year-old Ndou has to be considered his ace of spades!

The ace of hearts suit belongs to Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilembe, who lifted the WBC International light heavyweight title on Saturday night by comprehensively outpointing the rock-hard Congolese Doudou Ngumbu over 12 rounds. Ngumbu came into the ring undefeated in 20 bouts and was considered to be a worthy WBC International titleholder. “Isaac’s talent, charm and good looks, all combine to make him one of the most marketable fighters we’ve had under our banner in a long, long while” said Berman. “Yes, he’ll definitely feature prominently in our plans for the 2010 boxing spectacular.”

Pint-sized Hekkie “The Hex-ecutioner” Budler hasn’t been beaten since he turned professional and as the current IBO Africa junior flyweight champion is steadily on course for a crack at the IBO world title, which Berman is lining up for 2010.

“The kid is only 21 and yet he’s already made gigantic strides as a fighter” confirmed Berman. “He has to be our ace of diamonds, if only because his incredible dedication, determination and work ethic have shone through from the start”.