With another Golden Gloves sellout looming, the appetite of boxing fans in the Mother City will also soon be sated.
This was the assurance from promoter Rodney Berman, who senses that the lack of recent local fight action, due in large part to the impasse at Boxing SA, has served to energise supporters.
Consequently, bookings for the tournament at Emperors Palace next weekend have surged. Fans want fights and that’s what they’ll get with a compelling card headlined by Ricardo Malajika against England’s Marcel Braithwaite.
“A great night is in store,” said Berman, who has also added several heavyweight bangers to the card, ensuring that spectators and viewers on SuperSport will have much to savour.
And then, on June 15, Golden Gloves presents the suitably named “Double Trouble” featuring two of SA boxing’s best young talents in Roarke Knapp and Shervontaigh Koopman, both Emperors Palace favourites.
Knapp is already on the road to a title showdown and Koopman is moving fast, suggesting another good night in store.
Yet if these shows are designed to appeal primarily to live Gauteng audiences, word that the Golden Gloves tournament on July 13 is planned for Cape Town is sure to inflame passions in the Mother City.
Mention has been made of Kevin Lerena topping the card, a slick piece of promoting given the popular fighter’s national popularity and ability to lock in the crowds. Lerena has only ever boxed in Gauteng locally, so a move down country will be warmly welcomed.
Berman is still thrashing out plans, but look to the likes of Dean Promnick and Dylan Prosser, both products of Cape Town’s fast-growing fight scene, to work their way into the action on a blockbusting event.
