Brandon Thysse thought he did enough to grind out a decision victory over Boyd Allen last year.
Thysse instead fell short, but he can redeem himself in the rematch Saturday night as they square off in a 10-round bout at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa. The fight will air live throughout the country on SuperSport (6:30 p.m. local time).
The fight will headline a Golden Gloves Promotions card, which will take place with no fans in attendance. The card will also be South Africa’s first since March 15, before the country shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday’s fight will be the final of the ‘4@War’ four-man tournament. Allen and Thysse first squared off on May 10 of last year, which also took place at Emperors Palace. The fight was a back-and-forth affair with Allen doing enough to win by split-decision.
Both fighters had to defeat their respective opponents to earn their way to the ‘4@War’ tournament final. Allen (5-0-1, 4 knockouts), a former mixed-martial-arts fighter who resides in nearby Johannesburg, stopped Tristen Truter in the final round on November 30.
On the same night, Thysse (12-2-1, 10 KOs), who resides in Germiston, South Africa, knocked out previously-unbeaten Roarke Knapp in round 7.
Aside from bragging rights and being crowned the tournament champion, a lot is on the line for both fighters. The winner will likely receive a push by promoter Rodney Berman, who runs Golden Gloves Promotions.
“Boyd Allen will have a tough encounter in the rematch against Brandon Thysse,” Berman told BoxingScene Tuesday afternoon. “The first fight was very close with Allen winning the earlier rounds and Thysse making a great comeback. Allen eventually won on points, but Thysse is a come-forward fighter with experience and will apply pressure. Allen will be going into his seventh fight and is a clinical counter-puncher, but he has lots of fights in the Octagon, through UFC and EFC.
“It’s a really interesting match-up.”
Knapp (9-1-1, 7 KOs), who resides in nearby Edenvale, will square off against Truter (8-2, 5 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Truter resides in Boksburg.
Junior welterweight prospect Jabulani Makhense (9-0, 4 KOs) of Pretoria will face Eric Kapia in a 10-round bout.
Makhense last fought on September 21 of last year, defeating Marios Matamba by majority decision in a clash of unbeaten fighters. In his previous fight on June 8, Makhense defeated Michael Mokoena by unanimous decision.
Kapia (22-3-2, 4 KOs), who is originally from the Democratic Republic of The Congo and now resides in Johannesburg, has not fought since March 30 of last year, losing by unanimous decision to Vaghinak Tamrazyan by unanimous decision.
Cruiserweight Keaton Gomes (6-1, 4 KOs) will square off against Lebogang Mashitoa (7-1, 2 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Gomes and Mashitoa last squared off on September with Mashitoa winning by split-decision.
Unbeaten Cowin Ray (5-0, 3 KOs) will face Karabo Mokupi (2-3, 2 KOs) in a six-round junior middleweight bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing