By Mesuli Zifo
In boxing there are fighters whose paths are meticulously prepared by being fed carefully selected opponents by their promoters while avoiding any pitfalls that might derail them.
And there are the Orlando Salidos of this world who perfect their craft by taking on all comes without enjoying protection by their promoters.
Admittedly in boxing there should be winners and losers but in most cases when defeats accumulated on the ‘L’ side of the ledger they often make a fighter look like a bum even when he is capable of holding his own against the favored house fighter as Salido proved in his upset eighth round stoppage victory over previously unbeaten Puerto Rican star Juan Manuel Lopez two months ago.
While Salido was obviously brought in to serve as an opponent for Lopez while Bob Arum was building up the mouth-watering mega clash between “Juanma” and Yuriorkis Gamboa, the 11-loss in 49 bouts- Mexican defied the odds by upsetting the applecart.
The Salido-Lopez script will be played out at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday when cagey veteran William Gare comes up against unbeaten house fighter Thomas Oosthuizen in an IBO super middleweight crown.
Oosthuizen belongs to fight promoter Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotion (GGP) and his path has already been smoothed while Gare is meant to serve as just an opponent to boost the win column of the 22-year-old.
Talk is that Oosthuizen has already secured a slot in a Lou DiBella- promoted show in US which will be headlined by world middleweight king Sergio Martinez sometime in October.
All he needs to do is to fulfill his expectations by beating Gare and judging by Gare’s fight record of 14 losses in 41 bouts that should not be a problem to achieve.
Unbeaten in 15 fights with a single draw and 11 stoppages, the southpaw nicknamed “Tommy Gun”, is groomed as the future star and is already seeing himself captivating US boxing fans in October.
He is not even paying attention to the immediate obstacle in front him.
“My power and youth will be too much for Gare so I am not even entertaining any thoughts of him beating me,” said Oosthuizen.
But that is where he might be making a huge mistake if he is dismissing Gare as mere opponent that must be easily trampled upon.
While the veteran can be considered long in the tooth at 35 years in a professional career spanning 17 years, he remains as cagey and gritty as they come and can never be underestimated just as it was a grave mistake for Lopez to look down on Salido.
With a lightly-regarded WBF crown under his belt which will not be up for grabs, Gare is relishing the prospect of derailing the favored house fighter.
“I know everybody is looking at me as a sacrificial lamb for this kid but people forget the experience I have amassed in all my fights including my losses,” Gare said.
“I just hope Mr Berman will not be so upset when I spoil his plans for his prized-asset. Hopefully he will appreciate what I will do and put me in his plans.”
Gare has often outfoxed many a prospect when he was brought in to serve as an opponent and he says Saturday will be no exception.
“I have watched Oosthuizen in all his fights and he does not scare me at all. Don’t forget that I always do well against southpaws.”