The junior middleweights shared the stage at RPM Performance after their original bout fell through. They’re due to meet in Sandton on Saturday.
Jarred Silverman and SD Pypers were supposed to fight in June. The bout fell through and the disagreement carried on in public. At Tuesday’s Aquila Boxing Promotions press conference at RPM Performance in Honeydew, they were four days away from trying again, this time in the co-main event of Knockout Chaos 3: The Return.
Silverman told Sowetan that the postponement had cost him income and that he had received no compensation. Pypers dismissed his opponent’s threats. The extra months gave both men plenty of time to make their positions clear. What the delay couldn’t settle was how either would respond once the other started landing punches.
That is where the match-up gets interesting. Pypers has won all four of his professional bouts in the first round. Silverman has had 18 professional fights and is accustomed to applying pressure over a longer contest. Pypers has yet to return to his corner after an opening round as a professional. If Saturday’s fight gets that far, his corner will have its first opportunity to make adjustments between rounds.
The first round gives Silverman a decision of his own. If he steps in early to apply pressure, he risks giving Pypers the kind of exchanges in which he has ended fights quickly. If he takes more time to read him, he has to keep Pypers from setting the pace. How Silverman handles those opening exchanges may tell us more than anything either man said in Honeydew.
The junior middleweights will box immediately before Kevin Lerena and Scott Forrest contest the vacant WBC International cruiserweight title at the Sandton Convention Centre. They’ve already had one date taken off the calendar. The second brings the chance to find out whether the bout lives up to the months spent talking about it.
