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Shervantaigh Koopman faces former title challenger Brandon Cook on Saturday in South Africa
Shervantaigh Koopman (right) fires a punch at Wendy Toussaint. Photo by James Gradidge
Shervantaigh Koopman has built an unbeaten record against modest opposition.
A statement win against a former world title challenger could put him in a position to face the best fighters at 154 pounds.
Koopman will face Brandon Cook Saturday night at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa. The 10-round bout will headline a six-bout ‘The Conquerors’ card that will air live stream live on TrillerTV (5 p.m. UTC).
Rodney Berman, who has promoted fight cards throughout South Africa for over 45 years, is confident that Koopman can emerge as a legit contender, should he defeat Cook in impressive fashion.
“Koopman is ‘the best kept secret’ in the division,” Berman told The Ring Thursday. “That’s the best way to sum it up. Cook is a very respected fighter with an impressive record. I’m confident that the fight will highlight just how good Shervantaigh is.”
In his last bout on June 15, Koopman (14-0, 9 knockouts), who is originally from Pretoria, South Africa, defeated Wendy Tossaint by unanimous decision. Toussaint’s only two defeats prior to the Koopman fight were against Charles Conwell and Ardreal Holmes, Jr., both of whom are currently unbeaten contenders at 154 pounds.
Koopman scored a one-sided decision over Cristiano Ndombassy in his previous fight on November 25.
The 30-year-old Koopman, who has been a fixture on several recent fight cards promoted by Berman at Emperors Palace, also has knockout victories over Brandon Thysse and Jackson Kaptein. He currently lives and trains in Johannesburg and is trained by Vusi Mtolo.
Cook (26-2, 18 KOs) has not fought since December 2, stopping Luis Vidales Gutierrez in the third round. In his previous fight on April 29 of last year, Cook defeated fringe middleweight contender Gino Natalio Godoy by split decision.
The 38-year-old Cook, who resides in Ajax, Canada, has won his last six fights since a knockout loss to then-WBO world junior middleweight titleholder Jaime Munguia in September 2018.
The fight against Koopman will mark his third time fighting outside Canada. Besides the loss to Munguia, which took place in Las Vegas, Cook’s other fight abroad took place in Kazakhstan, which resulted in a knockout loss to Kanat Islam.
In the co-feature, Brandon Thysse (16-4-1, 12 KOs) of nearby Germinston will square off against Junior Makondo (9-6-1, 7 KOs) of Malamulele, South Africa in a 12-round bout.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]
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