SA’s newly crowned world junior-flyweight champion Hekkie Budler will probably have to make his first two defences in Japan‚ his manager/trainer Colin Nathan says. In arguably the biggest victory by a South African boxer since Vic Toweel won the undisputed world bantamweight crown in 1950‚ Budler narrowly outpointed Japan’s Ryoichi Taguchi in Tokyo on Sunday. In a sport gone mad with alphabet titles‚ Taguchi was one of the few unified champions in boxing‚ holding the WBA and IBF crowns, as well as the Ring magazine’s belt given to him as their champion of the world. In terms of universal titles‚ this surpasses the stunning wins achieved by past greats such as Brian Mitchell‚ Dingaan Thobela‚ Sugarboy Malinga and even Corrie Sanders. No other South African boxer has held two such major titles at the same time. But the victory means Budler will probably have to return to Japan for his next two bouts. "We signed a two-fight option for the WBA title‚" Nathan said on Sunday. Option claus...
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