Golden Gloves have put together a strong lineup of fights for the World Sports Betting “Abanqobi – The Conquerors” event taking place on Saturday the 26th of October at Emperors Palace. We look at the main event and two supporting bouts on the card from a betting angle.
Click here for betting on the full fight card.
BRANDON COOK vs SHERVANTAIGH KOOPMAN
Vacant WBA Intercontinental Junior Middleweight Title Fight:
Brandon Cook is a 38-year-old fighter from Canada who has made a successful name for himself internationally. He is on a 6-fight win streak currently, with his last loss coming in 2018 against Jaime Munguia who was WBA World Junior Middleweight Champion at the time.
Cooks most recent fight took place on the 2nd of December, where he clashed with Luis Gutierrez and dominated the fight, winning by round 3 TKO, resulting in his record being 26-2.
Shervantaigh Koopman, born in Pretoria is the much younger fighter, currently 30 years of age. He is fighting out of Johannesburg, and he has built up immense talent over the years, creating a clean sheet for himself with 14 wins and no losses, with 9 knockout wins.
Koopmans latest fight was held on the 15th of June, where he fought on the Knapp vs Garcia card against Wendy Toussaint and picked up a decision win over 10-rounds.
BETTING – click here to bet
Cook – 4.50
Draw – 26.00
Koopman – 1.20
PREDICTION:
While Cook is a quality professional and a step up for Koopman I expect the younger fighter to come out firing this weekend in front of a home crowd, dropping Cook in the 6th round and taking the title.
BRANDON THYSSE vs JUNIOR MAKONDO
South African Junior Middleweight Title:
Brandon Thysse, a fighter born in Germiston, is known for his effective striking and stamina, he has fought 21 times professionally, winning 16, losing 4 and drawing 1. He has been on average form across his last 5 fights, winning 3 but also losing 2 against Koopman and Knapp.
His last fight saw him step into the ring with Darrin Rossouw on the 5th of April, where Thysse won by decision at the Powerhouse event.
Junior Makondo is a fighter from Gauteng who was born in Limpopo, he has had a tough time fighting professionally and he currently sits on an unimpressive record of 9-6-1. However, he has been on better form recently, losing just 1 of his last 5 fights, while picking up 3 wins and 1 draw.
The last time he entered the ring was on the 23rd of June last year, where he went head-to-head with Jacques Thsikubu Muvud, who he had previously drawn to but this time around he won by decision.
BETTING – click here to bet
Thysse – 1.18
Draw – 26.00
Makondo – 5.00
PREDICTION:
I think that Thysse will cruise through this fight and win by decision.
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NTETHELELO NKOSI vs SANELE MSIMANG
South African Junior Welterweight Title:
Ntethelelo Nkosi is a fighter born in KZN but fighting out of Johannesburg, he has fought 8 professional bouts, winning 6 and losing 2. He has been on solid form as of late, winning 5 of his last 6 fights, with his most recent being a round 9 TKO win over Prince Dlomo in November last year.
Sanele Msimang, fighting out of Durban, is a man known for his elite stamina and his clean striking. He has fought 20 times, winning on 16 occasions with 8 of the 16 being by KO. His most recent fight took place August 2023, where Msimang beat Luvuyo Mputhi by decision for the WBF International Super Lightweight Title.
BETTING – click here to bet
Nkosi – 1.90
Draw – 26.00
Msimang -1.90
PREDICTION:
Although the odds are even for this encounter, I believe that Msimang has the upper hand, and he will use his experience to pick up more scorecard points across the fight and take the win by decision.
SUGGESTED BETS:
Cook vs Koopman
Koopman by KO/TKO or DQ at 7/10
Thysse vs Makondo
Thysse by decision or technical decision at 4.00
Nkosi vs Msimang
Msimang win at 1.90
The treble of my 3 selections above works out to 11/1 and you can copy my bet using this code 18781700
Note: All prices correct at time of writing but subject to change.
