Hekkie Budler to make historic world title bid in Tokyo
The South African will challenge unified junior-flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in September
19 July 2023 - 16:43
by David Isaacson
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Hekkie Budler, left, in action while winning the IBF, WBA and The Ring magazine junior-flyweight belts from Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan in May 2018. Picture: KIYOSHI OTA/GETTY IMAGES
Hekkie Budler will bid to become the second South African to win a third mainstream world title when he challenges unified junior-flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in Tokyo on September 18, manager Colin Nathan said on Wednesday.
The Japanese fighter holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world junior-flyweight crowns.
Budler has previously held the same WBA belt, added to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight title and WBA strawweight crown.
Only Dingaan Thobela has won three of the mainstream belts, the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and WBA mantles at lightweight and the WBC super-middleweight strap.
Two South Africans have won WBC belts in 20 shots to date — Thobela and Sugar Boy Malinga, who twice lifted the WBC super-middleweight title in the 1990s — a statistic that illustrates the difficulty of the task facing the veteran from Newlands in Johannesburg. On the plus side, 29% of South Africans have succeeded in WBA title tilts.
If 35-year-old Budler were to win, it would mean Nathan’s Hot Box gym in Johannesburg would have three of the four bona fide junior-flyweight belts, with Sivenathi Nontshinga holding the IBF strap.
Budler, who turned professional in 2007, has a record of 35 wins (11 KOs) and four defeats.
The 31-year-old Teraji, 21-1 (13 KOs), won the WBA title in a 2022 unification against countryman Hiroto Kyoguchi, who had dethroned Budler at the end of 2018.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Boxing
Hekkie Budler to make historic world title bid in Tokyo
The South African will challenge unified junior-flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in September
Hekkie Budler will bid to become the second South African to win a third mainstream world title when he challenges unified junior-flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in Tokyo on September 18, manager Colin Nathan said on Wednesday.
The Japanese fighter holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world junior-flyweight crowns.
Budler has previously held the same WBA belt, added to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight title and WBA strawweight crown.
Only Dingaan Thobela has won three of the mainstream belts, the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and WBA mantles at lightweight and the WBC super-middleweight strap.
Two South Africans have won WBC belts in 20 shots to date — Thobela and Sugar Boy Malinga, who twice lifted the WBC super-middleweight title in the 1990s — a statistic that illustrates the difficulty of the task facing the veteran from Newlands in Johannesburg. On the plus side, 29% of South Africans have succeeded in WBA title tilts.
If 35-year-old Budler were to win, it would mean Nathan’s Hot Box gym in Johannesburg would have three of the four bona fide junior-flyweight belts, with Sivenathi Nontshinga holding the IBF strap.
Budler, who turned professional in 2007, has a record of 35 wins (11 KOs) and four defeats.
The 31-year-old Teraji, 21-1 (13 KOs), won the WBA title in a 2022 unification against countryman Hiroto Kyoguchi, who had dethroned Budler at the end of 2018.
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