Thomas Oosthuizen vs. Rowland Bryant on Thursday

By Boxing News - 07/29/2012 - Comments

Image: Thomas Oosthuizen vs. Rowland Bryant on ThursdayBy William Mackay: This Thursday night, International Boxing Organization (IBO) super middleweight champion Thomas Oosthuizen (19-0-1, 13 KO’s) will be defending his title against a very dangerous challenger Rowland Bryant (16-1, 11 KO’s) at the Roseland Ballroom, in New York, New York.

This is a crucial fight for the 24-year-old Oosthuizen, because a victory here could pave his way to a title shot against IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch in November. Oosthuizen, #4 IBF, #8 WBC, #13 WBA, can really improve his chances at getting that fight along with the good money that comes with it is to make sure he beats #12 IBF Bryant in an impressive fashion. That may be easier said than done, because the 32-year-old Bryant has really improved his game and is one of the more dangerous fighters in the super middleweight division.

Bryant recently destroyed contender Librado Andrade by a 3rd round stoppage last April in a fight where Bryant bludgeoned Andrade for three rounds until the fight was halted. It was a devastating punching performance put on by Bryant.

If the 6’4″ Oosthuizen wants to win this fight he’s going to have to weather a serious storm of hard shots thrown from Bryant in the first six rounds if he’s to have any chance at winning. Oosthuizen isn’t a huge puncher, so he’s not going to be able to stand in there with Bryant and try to match him shot for shot. If he does that he’ll get mowed down much in the same way that Andrade did.

Bryant does seem to tire out late in his fights and that’s where Oosthuizen might have an advantage if he make it into the second half of the fight. Doing that will require a lot of movement from Oosthuizen because he can’t just stand in front of the hard hitting Bryant hoping to beat him at his own game. Oosthuizen won’t last long if he takes that kind of approach.



Comments are closed.