Religious boxing followers can confirm now that the SA heavyweight title is probably cursed. Not even one of the champions that have held it in the past two years has defended it successfully once.
Chris Thompson was the last to hold the belt but he too lost it in his first defence to Keaton Gomes on Sunday.
Tian Fick captured it when it was vacant. He defeated Josh Pretorius but his reign was short-lived. Juan Roux dethroned him, but he too was removed from the throne by Pretorius in his very first defence.
Thompson – who had been down two times in round one – went down on one knee after being hit with a two-punch combo to the head.
Referee Erick Khoza, who docked a point from Thompson earlier on for constant holding, rescued the visibly beaten defending champion.
On the other hand, Gomes was also out of breath. He outpunched himself in the attempt to end it all early. At least he delivered on the promise he made in the build-up of their boxing match last week that he would knock out Thompson clean. He also took home the ABU belt. Their fight headlined Golden Gloves' tournament.
Earlier on, Gomes’s stable mate Rowan Campbell forced a second-round stoppage over Thembani Mhlanga while Jackson Kaptein stopped Phikelelani Khumalo also in the second round.
The fight many people wanted to see was the trilogy between Johnny “The Hurricane” Muller and Akani “Prime” Phuzi. Muller went into their fight boasting two wins.
But Phuzi pulled all stops to free himself from being Muller’s punching bag. He defeated Muller on points. Phuzi, who had predicted a sixth round KO, was not convincing as a fighter.
Either he is scared to take risks or he is just not what fight fans think he is. He’s got the physique, enough power to hurt cruiserweights and age is on his side, but there is something missing in the equation. Hopefully his new trainer Damien Durandt will figure it out and quickly deal with it because it hinders him from showing his true potential.
Durandt’s other charge Brandon “Fast Guns” Thysse overcame tough-as-nails Cristiano Ndombassy over 10 rounds.
Roarke Knapp outpointed Mexican Dante Jardon over 10 rounds. Knapp dropped Jardon in round three and the expectation after that incident was that Knapp would finish off his foe early but it was not to be.
The curse of the SA heavyweight boxing belt
Thompson, like other champions before him, fails to defend title
Image: Nick Lourens
Religious boxing followers can confirm now that the SA heavyweight title is probably cursed. Not even one of the champions that have held it in the past two years has defended it successfully once.
Chris Thompson was the last to hold the belt but he too lost it in his first defence to Keaton Gomes on Sunday.
Tian Fick captured it when it was vacant. He defeated Josh Pretorius but his reign was short-lived. Juan Roux dethroned him, but he too was removed from the throne by Pretorius in his very first defence.
Thompson – who had been down two times in round one – went down on one knee after being hit with a two-punch combo to the head.
Referee Erick Khoza, who docked a point from Thompson earlier on for constant holding, rescued the visibly beaten defending champion.
On the other hand, Gomes was also out of breath. He outpunched himself in the attempt to end it all early. At least he delivered on the promise he made in the build-up of their boxing match last week that he would knock out Thompson clean. He also took home the ABU belt. Their fight headlined Golden Gloves' tournament.
Earlier on, Gomes’s stable mate Rowan Campbell forced a second-round stoppage over Thembani Mhlanga while Jackson Kaptein stopped Phikelelani Khumalo also in the second round.
The fight many people wanted to see was the trilogy between Johnny “The Hurricane” Muller and Akani “Prime” Phuzi. Muller went into their fight boasting two wins.
But Phuzi pulled all stops to free himself from being Muller’s punching bag. He defeated Muller on points. Phuzi, who had predicted a sixth round KO, was not convincing as a fighter.
Either he is scared to take risks or he is just not what fight fans think he is. He’s got the physique, enough power to hurt cruiserweights and age is on his side, but there is something missing in the equation. Hopefully his new trainer Damien Durandt will figure it out and quickly deal with it because it hinders him from showing his true potential.
Durandt’s other charge Brandon “Fast Guns” Thysse overcame tough-as-nails Cristiano Ndombassy over 10 rounds.
Roarke Knapp outpointed Mexican Dante Jardon over 10 rounds. Knapp dropped Jardon in round three and the expectation after that incident was that Knapp would finish off his foe early but it was not to be.
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