Sharvantai Koopman overcame an early scare to stop Canadian opponent Brandon Cook in five rounds in a junior middleweight contest Saturday night at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng, South Africa.
The first round went almost pear-shaped for the South African players. Cook started aggressively, going right after Koopman and dropping Koopman with a left hook for an eight count. He continued his attack, chasing after a shaken Koopman. The right-handed Koopman’s glove touched the canvas, resulting in a second knockdown. Koopman appeared to be teetering on the edge, but he used his wits to hang on to his opponent and thwart the attack as best he could.
Then, out of the blue, he nailed Cook with a combination left hook and right hand, followed by a punch that brought the Canadian down in a dramatic reversal. Cook rose to his feet, and after the third eight count of the first period, Koopman went on the attack as the final bell rang.
Koopman launched his second attack, sitting back and jabbing, keeping Cook at bay with long shots to the head and body. The straight right created a deep gash above Cook’s left eye, from which blood began to spurt. The match was stopped so ringside doctors could take a closer look. When the match resumed, Koopman landed a right flush to Cook’s jaw. The visitors weren’t done yet and retaliated with a wild hook. Some landed, others did not.
In a wild third round, Cook charged out of the corner and drove Koopman into the ropes. Koopman tightened things up and nailed the charging right hand to Cook. But the bloody Canadian remained dangerous, nailing Koopman with an overhand right of his own moments later. Koopman landed a right uppercut to the body, followed by a right uppercut and a left hook to the head. Cook absorbed it and responded with a right hook of his own. But Koopman found a way to handle the pressure and landed a left hook that sent Cook reeling. A right uppercut to the body brought Cook to his knees, and it was clear the local man had found the key to the fight. When the bell rang, Cook stood up for an eight count.
Koopman went into full attack mode in the fourth. He used a combination of right uppercuts, left hooks, and straight rights to send Cook into the ropes and into the corner. The Canadian Ironman continued to fight, landing occasional power shots, but was taking punishment.
Koopman landed a strong jab and a long right uppercut to the body in the fifth round. He ate a right hand from Cook, but responded by punishing his opponent’s body. These body shots were Cook’s undoing. He was knocked down with a right uppercut on the beltline and was deprived of another count. I stood up again, but I was nearing my limit. A right uppercut to Koopman’s head sent him staggering back to a neutral corner, and referee Jean-Robert Laine stopped the fight at 2:59 as Koopman rained down shots.
Koopman, who walked through the fire for the win, improved to 15-0 with 10 knockouts, while Cook fell to 26-3.
Shaabantay Koopman is now clearly South Africa's top 154-pounder and there are a lot of expectations placed on him.
In the main support bout, fellow junior middleweight Brandon Tisse stopped Nkensahosi Makondo in eight rounds to become the South African champion. The match had emotional significance for Tisse, who won the vacant national title in his third shot at the belt. His late father, Andre Tisse, was a Commonwealth champion and a leading South African champion in the super middleweight division.
The fights were all action from the get-go, although some scenes were rough and rowdy at times. Tisse started quickly, attacking Macondo with hard right attacks to the body, including straights and hooks. Macondo struggled to find range until he earned his rights. This triggered a barrage of two of Tisse’s fists, tearing apart Macondo’s midsection.
Both fighters exchanged heavy body blows in the second, with Tisse gaining the upper hand with an overhand to the head, forcing Macondo into a clinch. However, Macondo did not remain silent and immediately sent his own right uppercut to turn Tisse’s head back.
The scuffle continued a third time. Macondo occasionally hit hard rights, but Tisse outplayed him. A right flush to the chin finally sent Macondo to the canvas. He got back up, but was staggered by a combination right hook, left hook, and right uppercut, and Bell came to his rescue.
This pattern continued over the next four rounds. Macondo bit hard on the gum shield and did not stop trying. He had sporadic success, landing hard jabs, straight right hands, and body shots, but Tisse simply had better output, punch variety, and attack technique.
The end finally came in the eighth inning when a left hook and right hand combination crippled Macondo. Tisse quickly regained his body. The fight was decided at 1:06 when Macondo turned his opponent away with a right hook and a left hook to the midfield, and a towel was thrown into the ring during a corner kick.
Brandon Tisse improved to 17-4-1 with 13 stops, while Macondo fell to 9-7-1.
South African junior welterweight champion Ntetelelo Nkosi defeated Sanele Msimang in short order, knocking out the challenger in the first round to retain his belt.
The stocky challenger’s southpaw stance was no problem for Nkosi, who started hitting shots as soon as the bell rang. He landed a straight right to the body and a left hook upstairs. The challenger responded with right hooks of his own, two of which landed, but did little to stop the champion’s advance.
A left hook staggered Mushiman and he stumbled back to the ropes. A one-two from Nkosi, followed by a right uppercut, a double left hook, and finally a right that sent Msimang crashing to the canvas. It was clear that Msimang was unable to stand up, so the referee ordered the match to end without finishing the count at the 2:56 mark.
Ntetelelo Nkosi was 7-2 with his fourth KO win, and Msimang dropped to 16-5.
Undercard results:
Bonginkosi Nhlapo W SD 6 Tuvia Wewege (Light Heavyweight)
Dean Promnick W SD 6 Morgan Hunter (Middleweight)
Juan Alberts W UD 4 Peter Breitenbach (Heavyweight)
The tournament will be hosted by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions.