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two of the best

WARRIORS: Tommy Oosthuizen, left, Emperors Palace's Vusi Zwane and Jared Lovett at the fight announcement yesterday. 06/04/09. © Unknown.
WARRIORS: Tommy Oosthuizen, left, Emperors Palace's Vusi Zwane and Jared Lovett at the fight announcement yesterday. 06/04/09. © Unknown.

Bongani Magasela

Bongani Magasela

Two of South Africa's most vibrant and explosive fighters, Thomas Oosthuizen and Jared Lovett, are on a collision course .

The young, charismatic and hammer-fisted twinkling stars flattened all their rivals in their promising careers. Now the two 21-year-olds will fight for the IBO Youth light heavyweight belt in the main bout of Golden Gloves' blockbuster at Emperors Palace on July 11.

The tall and athletic Oosthuizen, known as "Tommy Gun", is trained by Harold Volbrecht. He boasts eight stoppages from eight fights.

The well-built Lovett, known as "The Storm", is trained by Colin Nathan. He has left seven of his many victims gasping for air.

When promoter Rodney Berman announced the fight yesterday, the alarm bells started ringing. This is definitely not a match-up for fainthearted fans.

Another knockout artist, Phillip "Time Bomb" Ndou, is part of this event. He will make his return to the ring after a forced retirement against an overseas opponent.

To make it even more explosive, Berman has included Simphiwe "V12" Vetyeka in the line-up. This enormously talented pugilist, an all-round fighter, will face the tough Eric Barcelona for the vacant IBO bantamweight title.

The Filipino, Barcelona, gave Silence Mabuza hell in their slug fest in 2004 at Carnival City but Mabuza's resolve saw him through on a unanimous points decision over 12 rounds.

Berman said Oosthuizen and Lovett will be richly rewarded.

"I will pay them a purse money equivalent to what a national champion gets. In fact they are getting more money than what I paid Pierre Coetzee and Johnny du Plooy in 1990," said Berman.

"The future will be golden for the winner but I must add that the loser will sign a three-year contract with Golden Gloves, and he will be treated like a super star."

"This is what the fight public always wanted and we cannot keep them waiting for ever. I also wanted it so much. I have Jared's number," said Oosthuizen.

Lovett said: "Let's get it on. This is another fight, another knockout and another victory."

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