Big plans in pipeline for Lodumo Lamati and Thysse-Knapp winner.
With limited crowds allowed again, Golden Gloves promoter, Rodney Berman, is an excited man. “All 750 seats for our ‘No Love Lost’ tournament on the 4th of December at Emperor’s Palace sold out.”
The Brandon Thysse-Roarke Knapp grudge match is clearly something the South African boxing fans are into.
The winner of the hotly anticipated rematch will also have a spot of on the card planned for 26 February. Berman still likes the idea of proving once and for all who the best junior middleweight on the African continent is. The highest internationally ranked African fighter is the current ABU champion, Hassan Mwakinyo of Tanzania, who occupies the number 22 spot in the WBC rankings. “We would love the winner to face Mwakinyo in February. He is highly rated, I believe number 10 on Boxrec as well, and a win should mean a world rating for either Knapp or Thysse,” says Berman.
Mwakinyo sports a very respectable 20-2 record with 14 knockouts and is on a 10-fight winning streak. He had a stellar 2021, recording stoppage wins over Antonio Mayala and the former unified junior welterweight world champion, Julius Indongo. He would be the ideal next step for the Thysse-Knapp winner.
Another fighter who occupies Berman’s focus is IBO junior featherweight world champion, Lodumo “9mm” Lamati.
A potential local super fight between Lamati and former IBF junior bantamweight and WBO bantamweight world champion, Zolani Tete, has been talked about in the media with a lot of back-and-forth between the camps. Some say it is too soon for Lamati to take on an international campaigner with Tete’s experience, while others are of the opinion that Tete has bigger fish to fry on the international stage. On the other hand, given the way Tete’s lost his title to John Riel Casimero, he must prove that he still belongs on the biggest stage. Lamati, for that matter, has yet to face an opponent anywhere close to Tete’s stature and a win could see him leapfrog onto the big stage.
Perhaps the fight does make sense?
“We offered the fight to Tete, and we are awaiting an answer. Regardless, Lamati will defend his title on the February 26th card,” explains Berman. Whoever the opponent may be, Lamati is certainly deserving of the spotlight after giving a Fight-of-the-Year performance against Jose Martin Estrada Garcia in his last outing.
