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Impressive but lazy, Tommy Gun to face furious Berman

Tommy Gun Oosthuizen was exposed as a party animal last week, but his ill-discipline was barely evident as he convincingly beat veteran Fulgencio Zuniga of Colombia at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.

After Oosthuizen struggled to make the super-middleweight limit at Friday's weigh-in, stories emerged that his dedication is not what it should be - his preference for pubs and clubs outweighs his yearning for the gym.

At 24, he is still young enough to get away with it - as he did on Saturday night, winning in fine style. 

This Colombian frequently got up Oosthuizen's nose in the early rounds, tagging him plenty of times from close quarters.

Zuniga boasts 22 stoppages from 25 wins, but none of his blows did any damage; the most common responses he got were smiles or that leathered left hand.

The southpaw Oosthuizen's eye was sharp, and there were occasions he fired his left-hand lead with frightening accuracy. Only Zuniga will ever know how he stayed on his feet.

Oosthuizen won this entertaining scrap by unanimous decision to retain his marginal IBO super-middlweight belt, two judges scoring it 119-109 and the third 120-108.

Oosthuizen, ranked the fourth-best super-middleweight in the world by The Ring magazine, is on the verge of hitting the big time overseas.

There's talk of him fighting WBA and IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin at catchweight at Madison Square Garden in New York in January, or even challenging for a bona fide world title in his own division.

Undefeated Oosthuizen is entering a realm where discipline will be critical, so it's not surprising that promoter Rodney Berman plans to read him the riot act on Monday.

"Potentially Tommy is the best I have ever had. I don't want another Johnny du Plooy or Dingaan Thobela," said Berman, referring to the famously talented boxers who were both notorious slackers. 

Oosthuzien has youth on his side, but if he doesn't get his act together, in a few years the Tommy Gun could become the Tummy Bum.

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BATTERED and bruised, Gideon Buthelezi became a three-time world champion when he was awarded a split decision over Filipino Edren Dapudong on the undercard at Emperors Palace.

No surprise, really, when you consider that Dapudong didn't even get an introduction before walking to the ring. He applied the pressure for most of the 12 rounds, worked the body earnestly and dropped the South African with a sweet left hook to the jaw.

Buthelezi, a former IBO strawweight and junior-flyweight champion, frequently held Dapudong like a kugel clutches a handbag, but somehow he never received a warning from referee Lulama Mtya, who moved like he was in slow motion.

Buthelezi had his moments, landing some nice blows from time to time, but his bleeding nose and swollen eyes suggested he took more punishment than he dished out.

It wasn't the worst decision I've seen - Tony Nyangiwe (SA) had it 115-112 and Michael Pernick (US) 115-113 for Buthelezi, while Reg Thompson (UK) scored it 114-113 to the Filipino - but it was hardly convincing either.

Buthelezi, who now holds the IBO junior-bantamweight title, joins the likes of Cassius Baloyi, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and Mzukisi Sikali as SA's champions across three weight divisions, but he has yet to prove he is in the same league.

In his last fight, in September last year, Buthelezi was knocked out in two rounds challenging for the WBC junior-flyweight crown.

Unbeaten light-heavyweight Ryno Liebenberg is a crowd favourite, but after dropping Zambian Donald Kampamba in the first round, he made heavy weather of this contest.

Liebenberg, who floored him again in the third round, has a bad habit of pushing his punches out instead of letting his fists fly, and that costs him power.

By the time he finally knocked out Kampamba in the ninth round with two left hands, the second one landing flush while he was reeling, it was long overdue.

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