In what could be described as a family affair, veteran trainer Gert Strydom and his son Shannon Strydom will antagonise each other as they will be in opposite corners at the Carnival City in Brakpan on Saturday evening.
As the battle to decide who’s the best between the two of them, Gert will lead current South African heavyweight champion Shaun Potgieter when he defends his title against Chris Thompson, who is trained by Shannon.
While attempting to make a first successful defence of the SA title he won after he stopped Keaton Gomes in the 11th round in April last year, Potgieter will be aiming to make amends following his second round stoppage loss to Justis Huni in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) Pan-Pacific and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Global heavyweight titles contest in Gold Coast, Australia, in January this year.
The loss to Huni from Australia snapped Potgieter’s seven-fight winning streak, which included the win over Gomes.
On the other hand, Thompson goes into battle on the back of a three-fight winning streak. The 30-year-old Thompson quickly dispatched Malawian boxer Mussa Ajibu in three rounds in Pretoria three months ago.
Thompson will be out to reclaim the SA heavyweight title he lost to Gomes in December 2022. Thompson was trying to make a first defence of the title following his dethroning of Joshua Pretorius six months earlier.
