Boxing: Oosthuizen decisions Johnson

Casino/Showtime) By Jim Dower: Undefeated super middleweight contender Thomas Oosthuizen (19-0-1, 13 KO’s) defeated the hard hitting Marcus Johnson (21-2, 15 KO’s) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Friday night in a Showtime televised bout at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. The final judges’ scores were 98-91, 98-91 and 98-91.Oosthuizen, 24, knocked Johnson down in the 8th round with a hard body shot. By then, the fight was well in control by the 6’4″ South African Oosthuizen, who used flurries to dominate the fading Johnson in the second half of the fight. Johnson fought well in the first three rounds, landing big shots but still getting outworked by Oosthuizen. However, in the second half of the fight, Oosthuizen, #7 IBF, #10 WBC, took over with his fast hands and combinations. Johnson couldn’t keep up the pace and ended up losing by a wide margin. Although Oosthuizen got the win, he still looked little better than a fringe contender. He’s too sloppy, lacks power and isn’t as fast as the better fighters in the division like the Dirrell brothers and Andre Ward. Oosthuizen could mature in time and improve, but he’s still very flawed and I can’t see him as a fighter that will hold down a title for any length of time if he ever captures one of them. He can beat the Marcus Johnson’s of the boxing world, but I see him getting schooled by other contenders like Edwin Rodriguez, Andre Dirrell, Anthony Dirrell, Carl Froch…etc. Undefeated supper bantamweight Luis Orlando Del Valle (16-0, 11 KO’s) kept his unbeaten record intact with a 10 round unanimous decision win over Christopher Martin (23-2-3, 6 KO’s). The final judges’ scores were 100-89, 98-91 and 97-92. Undefeated super featherweight Jose Pedraza (8-0, 6 KO’s) defeated Gil Garcia (5-3-1, 1 KO’s) by an eight round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 79-72, 80-71 and 80-71.