Koopman ‘cooks up a Storm’ to claim vacant WBA belt

Shervantaigh Koopman planned to cook up a storm at Emperors Palace where he welcomed Canadian Brandon Cook for the vacant WBA intercontinental junior middleweight belt on Saturday evening, and the South African did just that.

“SK”, the ring moniker by which Koopman is popularly known, did that over five hard-fought rounds, with five knock-downs in the space of 15 minutes.

It was announced that Koopman's victory — the 10th by way of short route in 15 outings — will earn him a top-10 rating by the Panama-based boxing sanctioning body.

Koopman, who enjoyed the support of more than 1,000 animated fellow South Africans, went down twice in the first round. One more knock-down and referee Jean Robert Lane from Monte Carlo would have had to stop the fight.

Whatever instruction trainers Charlton Koopman, the boxer’s father, and Vusi Mtolo barked at the boxer worked like magic.

He responded with a flurry of his own, dropping the Canadian just before the round ended. It was hoped that would stop Cook's momentum.

The big crowd, which enjoyed a three-course meal as Golden Gloves' “Abanqobi — The Conquerors” international tournament was a box-and-dine event, breathed a sigh of relief.

Cook, despite being the wrong side of 38, remained dangerous. But he carelessly bulldozed his way forward in the second round, hoping for a repeat of what he had achieved in the first, resulted in him sustaining a bad cut.

Koopman might have been expected to capitalise on a wound that forced the bout to be stopped temporarily as ringside doctor Robert Selepe inspected the damage. Koopman began working Cook's body with left and right hooks and uppercuts.

Cook could not hide that every punch landed hurt him. He went down more than once from those blows in the next two rounds.

The noise from the crowd filled the Centre Court, with fans yelling for Koopman to “hit the body”. The former South African, IBF and IBO All African champion responded with well-executed body shots and Lane stopped the fight.

Lane's action was also informed by Cook's vision being impaired by the river of blood flowing from his cut, which his corner men were unable to stem.

Instead they allowed him to continue with the fight, and not being able to see properly turned him into a target for punishment.

“It was a tough fight,” said the newly crowned champion. “That man hits hard but I showed I can come back from any situation.”

Promoter Rodney Berman, whose award-winning Golden Gloves staged the fight, was not impressed by Cook's corner men.

“They should have rescued their fighter long before the fight was stopped,” Berman said.