In a fight, which pits two former South African heavyweight champions, Chris Thompson needs to make sure that he win if he wants to stay longer in the fistic sport as he clashes against Juan Roux at the Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park on Friday.
It’s now redemption time for Thompson because it’s been downhill for him since dethroning former SA heavyweight champion Joshua Pretorius in June 2022 and then losing the title to Keaton Gomes.
“It’s a do or die for him. If we win it, we carry on. If we lose it, we stop. It’s as simply as that,” Thompson’s trainer Shannon Strydom.
After his victory over Pretorius, Thompson lost his next four fights to Gomes, Bakhodir Jalolov, Solomon Dacres and Evgeny Romanov.
“I don’t see Juan Roux beating us. Purely on natural ability, Chris should beat Juan Roux. It’s eight rounds, we’re gonna be fit,” Strydom remarked.
The 29-year-old Thompson has lost his last three fights something which Strydom attributes to hometown advantage to his boxer’s opponents.
“Obviously, he took fights overseas in the backyards of some fighters. Two of those fights he did well. The one in Russia I thought we won. Those are big money fights, the reward was money,” Strydom said.
Meanwhile, Roux from Cape Town will be fighting for the first time since he lost his SA title to Pretorius at the Kempton Park venue in March 2022.
