Thursday 25 August 2016 10:46, UK
Unbeaten light-heavyweight Thomas Oosthuizen fights for the first time in 14 months this weekend, but where has he been and where can he still go? Isaac Robinson assesses what's left in the magazine of 'Tommy Gun.'
South Africa has a history of producing decent boxers - the likes of Thulani Malinga, Gerrie Coetzee and Lovemore N'Dou have all challenged for world titles in the modern era and who can forget the late Corrie Sanders shocking Wladimir Klitschko back in 2003?
Perhaps their most underrated and underachieving boxer of recent times, though, is Oosthuizen (25-0-2-KO14) - the troubled southpaw who is preparing to end over a year out of the ring by taking on Daniel Bruwer (24-6-1-KO21) in the province of Gauteng, where both were born and raised.
As recently as February, Oosthuizen had been in the world title mix; scheduled to take on Juergen Braehmer for the WBA world light-heavyweight title. Then, as has been the case at several junctures in his career, the patience of those assisting his preparation expired and the fight was called off.
It's no secret that Oosthuizen has struggled with both drugs and alcohol - and his trainer Harold Volbrecht was quick to offer the public a window into the chaos behind the scenes.
Volbrecht said in the wake of the withdrawal: "I pull him out of bars, I bail him out of police stations, I get him out of street fights.
"My wife Michelle and I feel betrayed. We've tried for so long to keep him on the right road. As soon as he comes right, he veers off again. We've looked after him daily, doing the things his parents should be doing…
"He could have become one of the greatest in South African boxing, but he's wasted everything. We'll always wonder what might have been."
Oosthuizen's promoter Rodney Berman went as far as to suggest that there was no way back for his fighter, adding: "This is the final nail in the coffin - Tommy's finished as a fighter. I can't see him having another fight. The stark reality is he's both a drug addict and an alcoholic who is beyond any help.
Tommy's finished as a fighter. I can't see him having another fight. The stark reality is he's both a drug addict and an alcoholic who is beyond any help.
"There are massive repercussions. Harold has been destroyed by this turn of events. Many people are angry and disappointed. I am duty-bound to inform the World Boxing Association of this situation, I can't sweep this under the carpet. There are far more deserving boxers who should be rated."
Damning assessments indeed, but Berman (who along with Volbrecht has cut ties with Oosthuizen) appears to have been at least wide of the mark in suggesting his professional boxing career was at an end.
Furthermore, while it's obvious that battles against addiction are often punctuated by false dawns, Oosthuizen appears to be on the straight and narrow ahead of his comeback.
His new promoter, Andre Thysse, recently said of the 28-year-old: "A journey of thousands miles begins with the first step. From what I have seen of Tommy physically, I believe he has learnt from his past and really wants to get back into serious action.
"Tommy did not hide the fact that he was in a drug rehabilitation centre. He picked up weight and ballooned to 102kg. He checked his weight on Wednesday and he registered 83kg and the fight against Bruwer is only next week."
Of course, there's no guarantee that Oosthuizen has retained all the faculties that helped him preserve an unblemished record against the likes of Isaac Chilemba and Brandon Gonzales. He also returns to a division that has bloomed in his absence yet you'd think that the top dogs at 175lbs - Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, Adonis Stevenson et al - will be casting interested glances towards the comeback.
Prior to his latest derailment, Oosthuizen had been building a name in America; his hard-fought draw with Gonzales was on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin v Matthew Macklin in Connecticut and he'd already recorded victories in Miami, New York and Biloxi.
It'll be a far cry from the bright lights when he faces Bruwer at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg but who knows - maybe one of boxing's classic tales of redemption is about to begin.
