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A week after being dumped by his promoter, the former International Boxing Organisation light heavyweight champion Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen finds himself without a trainer too.
It looks like Oosthuizen has become boxing’s enfant terrible, and no one wants to be associated with him.
Last week he was sacked by the Golden Gloves stable for ill-discipline. Now the boxer’s trainer, Harold “The Hammer” Volbrecht, has cut ties with him.
“Tommy’s latest conduct put my name, as his trainer, in a bad light. The boy has got too many personal problems and should just find someone who can nurture him. As for me, I’m done with him,” said a disappointed Volbrecht, who had been with Tommy Gun for nine years.
The 27-year-old was kicked out by Golden Gloves boss Rodney Berman last Thursday for allegedly refusing to challenge Germany’s Jürgen Brähmer for the World Boxing Association (WBA) title in Germany next month.
Oosthuizen claimed he was not fit for the bout. The fight was cancelled and Berman labelled the pugilist “a druggie and alcoholic who is beyond any help”.
Volbrecht said Oosthuizen would be removed from the WBA ratings, where he is currently placed ninth.
“I’ve always protected him, but he has made me a bad person with what he has done.”
All attempts to reach Oosthuizen for comment drew a blank. He wrote on Facebook on Thursday: “Thanking everyone who is in boxing with support [messages] and through life’s situations never giving up on me as human with mistakes ... I will Glorify God with all my flaws and flaunts! When the time comes He will be Glorified ... may you all be blessed by the King of kings.”
