Golden Gloves

South Africa’s internationally renowned referee Stan Christodoulou has lauded WBA Pan African super middleweight champion Tommy “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen (10-0, 7 knockouts) after his 12-round shutout of Ghana’s Thomas Owinbono on Saturday night at Emperors Palace. The veteran SA boxing official has refereed over 100 world championship fights over the years and is widely considered to be one of the three finest ‘third men’ in the history of the game. “What I love about this kid (Oosthuizen) is the manner in which he reacts to pressure and of course his incredible power, delivered as it is from the southpaw stance. Make no mistake Owinbono clipped him with a few very good shots on Saturday night, but to everyone’s amazement, Oosthuizen never batted an eyelid. That means the kid is tough and coupled with his speed, strength and hitting power, there aren’t too many super middleweights in the world with better potential than this string-bean banger from Boksburg. At present I’d say he’s something of a wunderkind” said Christodoulou.

One of Golden Gloves Promoter Rodney Berman’s most vibrant attractions at present, Oosthuizen has already won three championship titles and GGP are courting the idea of having him fight for a bonafide world title either later this year or during the early part of 2011. “It’s all a matter of timing” said GGP CEO Berman. “Some guys develop a lot quicker than others and in Tommy’s case the rate of improvement has been very good indeed. We’ll be watching his progress very carefully over the next few months and there is every chance that he could feature on our June 18 blockbuster event at Emperors Palace”.

At 21 years of age, the lanky Oosthuizen previously captured the IBO Youth world light heavyweight, IBO Youth world super middleweight and WBA Pan African super middleweight belts and its no secret that trainer Harold Volbrecht rates him as the finest raw talent he’s ever worked with.

“Tommy is a helluva boxer who just happens to hit like applejack and I’ve no doubt that given his durability, composure and handspeed, he’ll go on to lift world honours when the opportunity presents itself”.