Golden Gloves

It may be synonymous of the man, but Golden Gloves Promoter Rodney Berman makes no secret of the fact that his consortium has within it’s ranks four fighters who qualify as natural “power blasters”, or if you will, murderous punchers!

“No doubt about it, the likes of Tommy “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen, Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu, Flo “The Demolition Man” Simba and Johnny “Hurricane” Muller are all lethal one-shot hitters and over the next few months their high-voltage expertise will take boxing in Gauteng to new heights, especially when one considers the line-up of tournaments penciled in for Emperors Palace” said Berman. Ironically, two of the four; Oosthuizen and Mchunu are WBA Pan African titlists and both men box from the southpaw stance. Muller, who at age 19 is the youngest of the power blasters boxes from the orthodox stance, as does Simba and like Mchunu, the Hurricane is essentially an aggressive, come-forward fighter! All four fighters remain undefeated, though Muller has one draw on his six-bout resume.

“Look, Mchunu, Simba and Oosthuizen are all in their early twenties and Muller is still a teenager, albeit a belligerent one at that, and when one considers their knockout credentials it’s difficult not to be impressed” concluded Berman.

Oosthuizen (10-0, 7 knockouts) is the current WBA Pan African super middleweight champion and arguably qualifies as the most seasoned of the quartet. Simba at age 20 has taken the local heavyweight scene by storm since turning professional in 2009, and has rattled off three knockouts in as many fights. The powerfully-framed Mchunu hails from Pietermaritzburg and has filed a record of 7-0, with 6 knockouts. Moreover he has mowed down the opposition in a fashion reminiscent of a runaway freight car.

And Muller? With 5 wins (4 by way of knockouts) in 6 outings, the West Rand boxer has now joined the training camp of Harold Volbrecht and notwithstanding the fact that his previous contests were all fought in the heavyweight division, his new manager Brian Mitchell is looking to have him compete solely as a cruiserweight.

“Mchunu and Muller are natural cruiserweights with explosive power” said Berman, “and frankly we’re also in an enviable position of controlling the destiny of the most awesome super middleweight puncher (Oosthuizen) and rapidly developing heavyweight (Simba) that this country has ever seen. Like I keep saying, boxing in South Africa has NEVER been better!”