Knapp, Koopman could deliver fight of the year

Hey, we can dream, right?

Often, boxing fans wish for certain match-ups to happen but in many instances these do not materialise. Dream fights are evenly matched between the game’s best.

Here are some of those fights I’d pay to see happening next year, fully knowing that most of them are pipe dreams as the business of boxing would bog them down quickly.

Thomas Oosthuizen versus Luvuyo Sizani

This is a do or die, swim or sink type of a boxing match. Oosthuizen is trying to resurrect his career, which was stagnated by his wayward life of drugs and violence

Sizani – the ABU SADC light heavyweight champion – needs to step up to realise his fullest potential. He is the only boxer rated here in the championless weight division.

Bangile Nyangani versus Sphamandla Baleni

Nyangani holds the SA mini flyweight title. He is rated in the top 15 rankings by all five sanctioning boxing bodies. WBA has him on the No 7 position, while he is ranked 12th by both the IBF and WBC and 14th by the WBO. The IBO has appreciated his skills and consistency with a No 9 rating.

Baleni holds no title right now. He has previously held the WBA Pan African, IBO Intercontinental, SA and WBO Africa belts. He is rated No 7 by the IBF, 16th by the WBC, 11th in the WBO rankings, while the IBO has him on No 16.

Shervontaigh Koopman versus Roarke Knapp

Koopman and Knapp are trained by Vusi Mtolo and their showdown can happen despite that arrangement. They will be given the choice to choose a trainer.

This match-up is the type of a bout that will give their management clear indication as to which direction they must be guided.

One thing guaranteed about the spinoffs of this fight – both fighters will be ready to face any fighter in the junior middleweight division. Koopman holds the SA and IBF Africa belts, while Knapp is the ABU junior middleweight champion.

The advantage is that both fighters are under Golden Gloves, whose boss Rodney Berman still has the penchant for super bouts despite having staged historic fights since he began promoting boxing in 1977.