Last Man Standing heads to its climax

THE world could be the winner's oyster when Thabiso "The Rock" Mchunu and Danie "Tshwane Tornado" Venter meet for the decider of the Nashua Super 8 Last Man Standing tournament at Emperors Palace on November 10.

The triumphant cruiserweight will get R300,000, the vacant African Boxing Union title as well as the option to either represent Africa in the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Cup or face the highly-rated interim WBO champion Olawale "Kryptonite" Afolabi next year.

"The K2 Promotions of the Klitschko brothers - Vitali and Wladimir - has Afolabi fighting for them. They said he would like to be at ringside on November 10 to watch the final of the Super 8 because he is keen to fight the winner between Mchunu and Danie Venter on February 16 next year.

"That will be the date for the first leg of the WBC World Cup in Africa at Emperors Palace," said promoter Rodney Berman.

Alolabi, the US-based British boxer, is listed No 4 in Ring Magazine.

"This is proof the Super 8 has real value internationally," Berman said.

Meanwhile, Thomas "Tommy Gun" Oosthuizen has been warned to look "sensational" in his sixth defence of the IBO super-middleweight title against Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga, also at Emperors Palace on November 10.

Berman said that was because the reigning champion could top an HBO bill in the US in January.

"HBO wanted Tommy to fight WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in a non-title fight at catchweight. Tommy can't make that weight.

"We've gone back to them and said if we meet at super-middleweight, then they will have the fight," he said.