Jorge Garcia Perez shocks Roarke Knapp, who scored a third-round KO in South Africa

What was expected to win from Roarke Knapp quickly turned into a dream when he was knocked out in the third round by his Mexican opponent, Jorge Garcia Perez, on Saturday night at the Emperor’s Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa.

The first round of the junior middleweight 12 rounder started with both fighters fighting for position. Knapp goes straight forward, leaping to the chest while Perez throws a right hook. Knapp found a way to the top right. Perez rushed to the body. Knapp drove his opponent back into the ropes with a straight right, possibly ending the round.

Knapp continued to land his right hand in the second and Perez responded with a counter of his own. The wrestler then backed the guest into the corner where he landed a combination to the body and head. Suddenly, Perez tagged him with a left hook that caused Knapp to explode and send the spray flying with a big right. The two traded as the bell rang and one felt Knapp had the slight edge in the trade.

It all came crashing down in the third. Knapp went down seconds after Perez landed a right uppercut on what was called a slip. When he got up, Perez heard something and followed him. A terrific left hook sent him back to the corner. Perez jumped on him. Another left hook, more left shots, body shots and a final right to the head crumbled Knapp to the canvas. He got to his feet but fell back in the corner into a sit where he was counted out at the 1:05 mark.

Jorge Garcia Perez improves to 30-4 with 25 strikeouts. The power, it seems, is real. He deserves credit for an incredible road win. Knapp drops to 17-2-1. This will be a tough defeat to recover from, but he has shown great resilience in the past. Time will tell.

Another South African junior middleweight, Shervantaigh Koopman won a ten-round unanimous decision over Wendy Toussaint in a fight that didn’t go viral.

Shervantaigh Koopman (right) punches Wendy Toussaint. Photo by James Gradidge

Toussaint was as unconventional as they come. Typically an orthodox fighter, he came out of his corner fighting in a southpaw stance, circling the ring, moving away from Koopman. No one landed a punch in the first round.

Koopman began to touch him with body shots in the second, but Toussaint continued to move away. Koopman chased, trying his best to land only the occasional right hook or left turn coming back from Toussaint.

Koopman started throwing combinations in the fourth which led to more action from Toussaint who landed several right hooks before switching back to the orthodox stance. He landed one left hook, but Koopman was too busy.

Toussaint spent the fifth period alternating between stances while Koopman sent up a sweat with several good rights. Toussaint threw his right every time he changed his stance to orthodox, but Koopman was consistent.

In rounds six through eight Toussaint decided to settle on orthodox and come forward. A change of tactics has served him much better. He started using his jab and found a home with a left hook and right combination. The pressure made Koopman look uncomfortable.

Sensing some urgency, Koopman let his hands slide in the ninth and found success with combinations to the body. Toussaint still had a shot here and there, but Koopman was changing the momentum and getting back on track.

Koopman landed a series of left hooks to start the final round. A loping right followed shortly after as Toussaint returned to his bike.

The scores were 98-92, 96-94 and 97-93, all for Koopman. It wasn’t pretty but a win is a win.

Shervantaigh Koopman remains undefeated, moving to 14-0 with nine shutouts and Wendy Toussaint drops to 15-3.

In a fight between two national heavyweight champions, Chris Thompson won an eight-round unanimous decision over Juan Roux.

Roux was coming off a two year injury forced layoff and it showed. He came up but tried to pull the gun on Thompson who did everything right. He landed a couple of straight lefts in the first and lifted Roux’s foot off the canvas with a right hook.

Roux pushed him into the corner in the second, landing a single right and working the body but Thompson was catching and coming out of the corner, firing quick, jabs.

It was the same in the third with Thompson using his jab and a left to the body. When Roux attacked with single rights, Thompson flashed him a boot and threw right hooks around Roux’s guard.

Roux did better in the next two rounds. He landed a big right and Thompson went into the corner in the fourth. He landed another combination to the body later in the round followed by an upper left hook with Thompson on the ropes. In the fifth, Roux got the upper hand and after a while Thompson held on. It was the end of his success.

From there, Thompson just took over, landing to the body and head of Roux who went through hot shots that sent the spray flying.

Thompson finished the fight in style in the final round when a loping left, followed by a right hook and another left dropped his opponent to the canvas. It was a tough knock but the brave Roux somehow managed to beat the count. Thompson wasted seconds as the referee was forced to return him to the neutral corner, then pounced on Roux as the bell rang.

All three judges scored this fight 78-73 in favor of Chris Thompson who has scored 13-6-1 in seven fights. Juan Roux dropped to 6-2.

Strawweight Beaven Sibanda passed his first major test, winning an eight-round unanimous decision over the experienced Siphamandla Baleni.

The switch that hit Sibanda was already sharp and faster than his opponent. After a slow start, Sibanda got himself a hook in the third. Baleni tried to attack him where he was, but Sibanda remained calm, hitting any free hand.

Sibanda landed a couple of straight lefts in the fourth which prompted Baleni to attack the body but it was not enough.

In the fifth, Sibanda started to work his jab followed by body shots, ending with a left hook. He remained in that position until the eighth round, when he punished Baleni with straight punches to the head and body while circling his opponent. Baleni held the last bell he held forward.

Beaven Sibanda won with 77-75 and 79-73 twice and is now 7-0 with two wins. Siphamandla Baleni dropped to 21-7-2.

Undercard results:

Bryan Thysse KO 3 Sanele Mbatha (light heavyweight)

Charlton Malajika W UD 6 Arnel Lubisi (bantamweight)

The card was presented by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions.