Tied at one win each, Brandon Thysse and his opponent Roarke Knapp have promised to hit each other hard when they face off at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, on Saturday evening.
Thysse and Knapp headline Golden Gloves’ first tournament of the year as they clash in a fight with a R1,2 millions jackpot. The winner is going to smile all the way to the bank with R720 000, which is 60 percent of the total purse and the loser will be R480 000 richer.
Thysse’s South African and World Boxing Council (WBC) Africa junior-middleweight titles will be at stake during the shootout. Thysse won the first fight between them in November 2011 and Knapp returned the favour in June 2022.
“I’m going to win this fight, no matter what. I’ve worked very hard for this fight and am ready for 12 rounds,” a confident Thysse remarked.
Responding to Thysse, Knapp said: “It’s not the first time Brandon and I share the ring. The cream will rise to the top. I haven’t come to this fight for nothing. My hand is going to be raised.”
Meanwhile, in a fight which is surely going to divide the Thysse family, Bryan and his cousin Gerhard will clash for the SA light-heavyweight title.
The two boxers’ fathers are siblings with Bryan being the son of the late SA super-middleweight champion Andre Thysse while Gerhard Senior is Gerhard’s father.
The first known fight, which pitted cousins against each other was when Tony Habib defeated Jimmy Toweel by a ninth round stoppage in a vacant SA lightweight contest at Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg on 16 August 1952.
Mbulelo Nyanda and Kholisile Nyanda from Kariega in the Eastern Cape were some of the cousins, who fought against each other in the past. Kholisile stopped Mbulelo in the fifth round when they fought for the Eastern Cape minimumweight title at the Indoor Sports Centre, Kariega, in November 1995.
It took Mbulelo just over six years before he avenged that loss as he registered a points win over Kholisile at the same Kariega venue in February 2002. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
