Reports had stated that Oosthuizen was dropped by Golden Gloves again in the wake of his sluggish triumph over Robert Berridge on Saturday, coupled with his failure to make weight by over a pound, although Berman assured me that this wasn’t yet the case.
“I don’t know where that emanated from, but having said, that Tommy has a monumental task ahead to restore any kind of credibility,” Berman exclusively told World Boxing News.
“Right now, I’m going to weigh up the situation, but Tommy looks more and more like another potential star doomed to obscurity.”
Harsh words indeed from Berman who was livid at 27-fight unbeaten Oosthuizen for scaling 176.1lbs for what was his first defense of the 175lb IBO belt. The championship was subsequently taken from ‘Tommy Gun’ along with a huge slice of the South African’s purse and added to an already chequered C.V of misdemeanours under Berman.
Oosthuizen managed to get the win at Emperors Palace without setting the world alight against New Zealander Berridge, but ideally needed a standout performance in order to set-up some bigger fights in United States and Canada over the coming months.
A September or October WBC title challenge against Adonis ‘Superman’ Stevenson now looks doomed due to last weekend’s events as Berman attempts to rebuild a fighter that has proved difficult to deal with on more than one occasion in the recent past.
