Shervantaigh Koopman survived an early scare to stop his Canadian opponent Brandon Cook in five rounds in a junior middleweight contest Saturday night at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng, South Africa.

It almost went pear shaped for the South African in the first round. Cook started aggressively and went right after Koopman, dropping him for an eight count with his left hook. He kept attacking, chasing after a reeling Koopman. A right hand made Koopman’s gloves touch the canvas for a second knockdown. Koopman seemed to be tottering close to the edge but kept his wits about him, holding onto his opponent and smothering his attack as best he could.

Then, suddenly, he nailed Cook with a left-hook right hand combination, the follow up punches sending the Canadian down in a dramatic turnaround. Cook was up, and after the third eight count of the opening stanza, it was Koopman on attack as the bell ended the round.

Koopman started the second by sitting down on his jab and keeping Cook at bay with long shots to the head and body. A straight right opened a deep gash above the left eye of Cook that started gushing blood. The action was halted allowing the ringside doctor to take a long look. When the fight resumed, Koopman nailed Cook with a straight right flush on the jaw. The visitor was not done yet and retaliated with wild hooks. Some landed and others didn’t.

In a wild third round, Cook charged out of his corner and bulled Koopman to the ropes. Koopman kept things tight and nailed Cook with a right as he came charging in but the bloodied Canadian was still dangerous and nailed Koopman moments later with an overhand right of his own. Koopman dug in a right uppercut to the body and followed that up with a right uppercut-left hook to the head. Cook just soaked it up and responded with his own right hook. Koopman, however, had now found a way to handle the pressure and sent Cook stumbling after eating a left hook. A right uppercut to the body dropped Cook to his knees and it was clear that the local man had found the key to the fight. Cook got up and took an eight count as the bell rang.

Koopman went into full attack mode in the fourth. A right uppercut-left hook-straight right combination launched a sustained battering, sending Cook reeling into the ropes and corner. The Canadian iron man kept himself in the fight by landing the occasional power shot, but he was taking punishment.

Koopman landed some hard jabs and a long right uppercut to the body to start the fifth. He ate a right from Cook but responded by punishing the body of his opponent. Those body shots were the undoing of Cook. A right uppercut on the beltline sent him down for another count. Once again, he made it to his feet, but it was nearing the end. A right uppercut to the head from Koopman made him stumble back into the neutral corner where referee Jean-Robert Laine stopped the fight at the 2:59 mark as Koopman was raining down shots on him.

Koopman, who walked through fire for the win, improves to 15-0 with 10 knockouts while Cook drops to 26-3.

Shervantaigh Koopman is now clearly South Africa’s top 154-pounder, and much is expected of him.

In the main supporting bout, another junior middleweight, Brandon Thysse finally became the South African champion, stopping Nkhensahosi Makondo in the eighth round. The fight had emotional significance for Thysse who claimed the vacant national title in his third attempt at the belt. His late father, Andre Thysse, was Commonwealth champion and a dominant South African champion at super middleweight.

Although rough and scrappy at times, the fight was all action from the get-go. Thysse started fast, attacking Makondo with hard rights to the body, thrown straight or as hooks. Makondo struggled to find the range until he landed a right of his own. This prompted a two-fisted barrage from Thysse, ripping into the midsection of Makondo.

The two went at each other in the second exchanging vicious body blows, until Thysse gained the upper hand by landing an overhand right to the head, forcing Makondo to clinch. Makondo would not go quietly though and moments later snapped Thysse’s head back with a right uppercut of his own.

The brawling continued in the third. Although Makondo did get in the occasional hard right, Thysse was outpunching him. A right flush on the jaw finally dropped Makondo to the canvas. He made it to his feet, but a right hook-left hook-right uppercut combination had him staggered as the bell came to his rescue.

The pattern continued over the next four rounds. Makondo bit down hard on his gum shield and never stopped trying. He did have sporadic success, landing some hard jabs, straight rights and body shots but Thysse simply had the better output, punch variety and offensive technique.

The end finally came in the eighth when a left hook-right hand combination buckled Makondo’s legs. Thysse immediately switched back to the body. A right hook-left hook to the midsection made Makondo turn away from his opponent and when his corner tossed the towel into the ring, the fight was waved over at the 1:06 mark.

Brandon Thysse improves to 17-4-1 with 13 stoppages while Makondo drops to 9-7-1.

South African junior welterweight champion, Ntethelelo Nkosi made short work of Sanele Msimang, knocking out the challenger in the first round to retain his belt.

The southpaw stance of the stocky challenger posed no problem for Nkosi who started to land his shots as soon as the bell rang. He found a home for his straight right to the body and left hook upstairs. The challenger replied with his own right hook, two of which landed but did little to deter the forward march of the champion.

A left hook staggered Msimang who stumbled back into the ropes. A one-two from Nkosi, followed by a right uppercut, a double left hook and a final right crumbled Msimang to the canvas. The referee waved the fight over without completing the count at the 2:56 mark as it was clear that Msimang was not making it back to his feet.

Ntethelelo Nkosi is now 7-2, scoring his fourth knockout while Msimang drops to 16-5.

Undercard results:

Bonginkosi Nhlapo W SD 6 Tuvia Wewege (light heavyweight)

Dean Promnick W SD 6 Morgan Hunter (middleweight)

Juan Alberts W UD 4 Pieter Breytenbach (heavyweight)

The tournament was presented by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions