Tommy Gun blasts Sierra
Thomas Oosthuizen stopped Francisco Sierra in the eleventh round to retain his IBO super-middleweight title on Wednesday night.
Referee Andile Matika called the fight over with one second to go in the penultimate round of the bout at Emperors Palace, Kempton Park.
Sierra was outraged by what was probably a premature intervention by the referee. The Mexican could and would have fought on and was probably still capable of defending himself.
But the left that convinced Matika to stop the action was certainly damaging enough to cause severe concussion. Sierra had taken many more punishing lefts to the head; blows that would have knocked many other capable fighters cold.
Oosthuizen, making his third title defence, was so far ahead on points that victory was a foregone conclusion anyway.
Sierra won no more than two rounds.
The South African southpaw, nicknamed Tommy Gun, benefitted from being taken almost 12 rounds by the tough but too short and too limited Mexican.
Oosthuizen should learn a lot from watching SuperSport’s footage of the fight. He won well, but has a lot of room to improve.
He under-employs his useful right, needs more variety on attack and can improve his footwork. He should also learn to concentrate and keep busy for three minutes of every round.
The 23-year-old champion won the title in March this year when he stopped Evert Bravo in the ninth round. He then made successful defences against William Gare and Aaron Pryor Jr. beating both on points over 12 rounds.
His record now stands at 17-0-1, with 12 knockouts. Sierra dropped to 24-5-1, with 22 knockouts.
Sapa reports that Oosthuizen is now eyeing the big five in the middleweight division.
Promoters Golden Gloves and trainer Harold Volbrecht are weighing the pros and cons before deciding about the IBO champion’s readiness to fight more renowned opponents.
There is a feeling that Oosthuizen should first get more exposure and experience. One option is a couple of televised bouts in the United States, where he produced an impressive win over Aaron Pryor recently.
TALIWE RETAINS HIS BELT
Sipho Taliwe (18-2-1; 14) retained his WBC International junior lightweight title when he beat Jasper Seroka (21-4; 9) on points over 12 rounds in the main supporting bout.
The scores were 117-111 on two cards and 118-111 on the third.
Taliwe had also defeated Seroka in November 2009 when they met for the SA lightweight title.
The rematch was by no means a memorable bout. Seroka was seldom in the fight, and trailed on all three cards at the end of the eighth round.
Seroka weighed 58.48 kg and the champion 58.66 kg.
FIRST-ROUND KNOCKOUT
Zack Mwekassa from the Democratic Republic of Congo showed outstanding punching power, good timing and a questionable defence before knocking out his countryman Kizito Ruhamya with a second to go to the end of the first round.
Ruhamya, having taken another one of several damaging rights, sought refuge by ducking through the ropes. He got back just in time to hear referee Wally Snowball complete the count.
The fight, scheduled for eight rounds, was fought at a limit of 90 kg.
In a bout fought at 60 kg, Joey Stigling knocked out Voyolwethu Sirhayi after 1 minute 52 seconds of the third round, taking his record to 14-1, with 8 short-cut wins.
Sirhayi, coming into the ring with a reported record of 2-3; 1, lost his appetite for fighting towards the end of the second round. The referee was Jaap van Nieuwenhuizen.
In a real tester for the judges, Jason Bedeman (15-1-3; 12) and former SA and WBF junior welterweight champion Samuel Malinga (22-8-3; 14) drew in a junior welterweight bout over eight rounds.
The scores were 77-75 for Malinga, 78-74 for Bedeman and 76-76.