After their epic rematch, junior middleweights Roarke Knapp and Brandon Thysse will return to action in separate international bouts over ten rounds at Emperor’s Palace on the 10th of December on a card entitled “Crackerjack.”.
Knapp seems to have both the strengths and vulnerabilities of a crowd-pleasing fighter in the mold of Charlie Weir. Charismatic, the kid can punch and has a ton of heart, but he can also be hurt as we have seen in previous fights with Thysse and Cristiano Ndombassy.
There will be that element of danger hanging over his head on Saturday when he faces Mexican power puncher, NABF champion, Dante Jordan. The visitor sports 25 knockouts in 35 wins against eight losses and has a history of shattering undefeated records on the road. Knapp will have to be fully dialed in to avoid disaster. Luckily, in his rematch win over Thysse, he has shown that he can box when he needs to.
Brandon Thysse will face Cristiano Ndombassey in the other feature bout. When Ndombassey almost wrecked Knapp’s dreams in his last visit to Emperor’s Palace, he came in as a late substitute. This time he comes in with full training camp behind him. The Cape Town based Angolan fighter is explosive, dangerous, and hungry. He is considered the puncher in the matchup. Thysse is widely regarded as the better boxer, but as we have seen in the Knapp rematch, he can sometimes stray from the game plan. He can’t afford to do that against Ndombassy.
Second chances are one thing, but third chances are a rarity, especially when your opponent has beaten you twice. Cruiserweight Akani Phuzi will get exactly that when he faces Johnny Muller in a rubber match. The veteran Muller has already handed the youngster a pair of boxing lessons. It is make or break for Phuzi and pundits are interested to see if new trainer, Damien Durand can make that crucial difference.
On the undercard junior bantamweight Ricardo Malajika continues the rebuilding process when he faces Sihle Jelwana and Bryan Thysse makes his pro debut at lightheavyweight against Michael Head.