Thomas Oosthuizen

Thomas Oosthuizen
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Tommy Gun
Rated at	Super middleweight Light heavyweight
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Reach	78 in (198 cm)
Nationality	South African
Born	2 April 1988 Gauteng, South Africa
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	27
Wins	25
Wins by KO	13
Losses	0
Draws	2

Thomas Oosthuizen (/ˈwɛst.haɪzᵻn/ WEST-hy-zən; born 2 April 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He is a former IBO super middleweight and current light heavyweight champion.^[1] The Ring magazine and BoxRec currently ranks him #10 at light heavyweight.^[2][3]

Family

Thomas is the son of former two-division South African champion Charles Oosthuizen. Thomas is the youngest of three siblings, and has a sister Charlene (31) and a brother Charles (28).^[1]

Professional career

Oosthuizen made his professional debut on 29 February 2008, knocking out Johannes Swart in two rounds. He then reeled off twelve straight victories, nine of which coming by way of knockout.^[4]

IBO super middleweight title

On 6 November 2010, Oosthuizen faced off against IBO Super Middleweight titleholder Isaac Chilemba. The result was a split-decision draw which allowed Chilemba to retain the title, Oosthuizen claims that attempted to make a rematch were swiftly declined.^[5] On 26 March 2011, Oosthuizen got a second crack at the IBO title against Evert Bravo (Chilemba had vacated the title to move up to the Light Heavyweight class).^[6] Oosthuizen won the fight via a ninth round technical knockout, which saw the referee stepping in to save Bravo from taking further punishment.^[7] Oosthuizen made his American debut on the undercard of the Jan Zaveck vs. Andre Berto bout, winning a unanimous decision over Aaron Pryor Jr on 3 September 2011.^[8]

After two seemingly lackluster performances (a draw with Brandon Gonzáles and split decision victory over Ezequiel Maderna), a motorcycle injury forced Oosthuizen to withdraw from a scheduled bout fight with Eleider Alvarez. He was subsequently released by his promoter Rodney Berman, who cited the fact that Oosthuizen was at least 13 pounds over the 175 lb. limit for the bout; stating, "He's had so many chances and blown every one".^[9] Following a brief stint in rehabilitation, Oosthuizen was able to mend ties with his promoter in an attempt to move forward with his boxing career.^[10] He vacated his IBO Super Middleweight Title on April 21, 2014 and is scheduled to face Frenchman Doudou Ngumbu in Light Heavyweight bout.^[11][12]

Professional boxing record

References

1. Thomas Oosthuizen - BoxRec Boxing Encyclopaedia BoxRec. Retrieved on 2011-09-16.
2. "The Ring Ratings, Super Middleweight". The Ring. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
3. Light Heavyweight Rankings. BoxRec.com. Retrieved on 2014-04-11.
4. Thomas Oosthuizen's Professional Boxing Record. BoxRec. Retrieved on 2011-09-28.
5. Wainwright, Anson (20 September 2011). "Thomas Oosthuizen: "I will take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day."". Max Boxing. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
6. Jackson, Ron (3 September 2011). "Oosthuizen-Bravo for IBO belt". Fightnews. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
7. Chaykovsky, Edward (26 March 2011). "Thomas Oosthuizen Stops Evert Bravo, Wins IBO Title". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
8. Chaykovsky, Edward (3 September 2011). "Oosthuiszen, Bailey and Del Valle Win Bouts in Biloxi". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
9. Rafael, Dan (26 January 2014). "Thomas Oosthuizen injured, released". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
10. ""Tommy Gun" re-loads!". Golden Gloves. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
11. "No-title ‘Tommy Gun’ turns the corner". Golden Gloves. Retrieved 2014-06-01.
12. "OOSTHUIZEN FACES NGUMBU ON RETURN...". World Boxing News. Retrieved 2014-06-01.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Thomas Oosthuizen from BoxRec