Confidence in someone outperforming the other can be proven in more ways than one. But successful boxing trainer Damien Durandt has instead challenged Marco Luis to put his money where his mouth is.

Durandt took upcoming boxing manager Luis on a R10,000 bet that his charge, Brandon Thysse, will retain his WBA Pan African junior middleweight belt against Luis’ boxer, Roarke Knapp, on December 4.

This risky action undertaken in the hope of a desired result has further turned this rematch to be more compelling for religious boxing followers. It is, however, not a fight for faint-hearted fans because they could go at each other hammer and tongs.

Their eyes should not only be on the 60% of the R600,000 purse money but also a top 15 rating by the WBA in the junior middleweight division. Thysse – the defending WBA Pan African champion – should also be defending his top rating.

But his name does not appear in the top 15 of that sanctioning body’s junior middleweight ratings. It should have been a guarantee when he won that belt in October last year after knocking out Boyd Allen in three rounds.

But that is something promoter Rodney Berman, who will stage the fight at the Centre Court inside Emperors Palace, is working on. For now, the moment belongs to Durandt and Luis. PalaceBet is the official sponsor of the tournament dubbed “No love Lost” by Berman.

Knapp – who is trained by Vusi Mtolo – has pressure of avenging his seventh round KO by Thysse last year.

The tournament will feature future stars like newly crowned SA junior middleweight champion Shervontaigh Koopman, Ricardo Malajika and Sabelo Ngebinyana.

Koopman will welcome former WBO All Africa Ghanaian champion Habib Ahmed in a 10-rounder, while Malajika and Ngebinyana will also be involved in their second fight. Ngebinyana outpointed Malajika over eight rounds on March 14. 

Tournament coordinator Jeff Ellis said the tournament will take the box-and-dine formation, with tables of six sold to the corporate world. He said they have reduced the number from 10 to six because they want to provide visible physical distancing in line with Covid-19 protocols. Boxing has recently been given permission to welcome 750 fans.

“We needed an open space so that there is more than enough space between people; that is why we decided to host it at the Centre Court,” said Ellis.

Promoters have been staging tournaments at the Theatre of Marcellus because fans had always been prohibited from attending due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Ellis said action will start at 7pm and end at 11pm to be within the curfew, which is from midnight to 4am.