Third time lucky for Dowayne
In the undercard of the evening, Alberton boxer Dowayne Combrink and Giovanni Busby put up a great fight for the WBA Pan African middleweight title, but their efforts ended in a draw by the judges, 116/114; 113/115; 114/114.
ALBERTON – The two boxers will now continue with their grudge fights in June and meet for the third time. Combrink started off on fine foot under the watchful eye of Harold Volbrect, but could not pull off a win. At times Bushby had Combrink out on his feet, but he hung on and lived to see another fight called out by promotor Rodney Berman.
The East conquered the West, when Tommy “The Gun” Oosthuizen gunned down Ryno Liebenberg in the eagerly awaited IBO light-heavyweight title fight at the Stand and Deliver box and dine tournament at Emperors Palace.
Oosthuizen was at his best to get past Liebenberg who was also in his best shape.
In the end Oosthuizen was too strong and lifted the title on a split decision from the judges, namely two judges scored the fight in Ekurhuleni’s Tommy “The Gun’s” favour 117-111, and one very controversial decision in West Rand’s Liebenberg favour 113-115.
Oosthuizen did enough so that the belt was again firmly strapped around his waist to retain his unbeaten record. He actually produced his best performance in almost three years to outgun, outpoint and outsmart Liebenberg in this grudge fight.
The fighters started warily, but the action gained momentum as the fight progressed and telling punches were delivered. Both boxers demonstrated that they could take punishment without flinching, an indication of why no single knockdown was delivered. But it was also clear that the eventual winner would not be able to take Liebenberg apart, which eventually resulted in the latter’s second successive defeat, for the first time on points after they went the full distance.
Promoter Rodney Berman, however, has big plans for both boxers. Oosthuizen will now go and fight in the USA and Liebenberg will probably fight in a lower weight division in future.
