By Ron Jackson
34-year-old Tommy Oosthuizen continues on the comeback trail when he meets the 29-year-old Ugandan Musa “Hitman” Ntege for the vacant African Boxing Union cruiserweight title at the Carousel Casino in Hammanskraal north of Pretoria on Sunday Afternoon.
Oosthuizen (31-3-2, 18 KOs) who fights from the southpaw stance has had an outstanding career winning multiple titles including the IBO super middleweight and light heavyweight titles, since making his pro debut in February 2008.
He will be having his fourth fight since falling foul of the law and has scored wins over Youssouf Masango Mwanza (PTS 8), Limbano Lano (TKO 6) and Godfrey Paulo Kamala (KO 4).
Ntege (8-2, 6 KOs) who fights from the orthodox stance has been fighting as a pro since June 2015. The two losses on his record came against Bernard Adie (TKO 3) and Dig Vijah Singh.
The odds favor Oosthuizen who is vastly more experienced than Ntege who has fought nobody of consequence.
On the undercard in an eight-rounder Henrique “Spartacus” Lando (7-4, 7 KOs) from Angola meets Congolese Faraday Mukandila (7-3-1, 4 KOs).
The tournament is presented by Jamie Hebler of 5th Elements Boxing Promotions.
Kevin Lerena to fight at bridgerweight
It has been announced the Kevin Lerena will now fight in the WBC’s bridgerweight division (224 pounds – 101.65kg). He is scheduled to meet Ryad Merhy in a WBC title eliminator.
John Bopape to defend SA middleweight title
South African middleweight champion John Bopape is scheduled to defend his title against Ayanda Mthembu in Ladysmith on Saturday. This is a voluntary defence.
Hezekiel “Ziggy” Mtshali dies
It has been reported that long time promoter and trainer Hezekiel “Ziggy” Mtshali has died.
I remember when Tommy Oosthuizen was coming up and fought against this guy from my home town and surprisedly won.
That is a good move by Lerena and he and Merhy were supposed to fight at cruiser for Merhy’s title at the time. That should be a really good fight.
Thomas Oosthuizen is talented. He pulled off some nice wins in the States about 10 years ago. I thought he would go all the way. It’s too bad that his personal issues got in the way of his boxing. I wish him all the best.
Pray for boxers in SA.Boxers are in famine.Lots of talent are stagnant, most boxers gotta have a second job.So sad.