The Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles recently hosted the International Boxing Federation (IBF) championship.
The previously unbeaten Mexican title-holder, Carlos Licona, faced former Germiston local Deejay Kriel in a 12-round fight, battling for champion status.
Kriel returned home a winner on Sunday evening after defeating his challenger.
After 11 months of not fighting, Kriel surprised many when he defeated the champ.
Kriel who moved to the USA last year to pursue his boxing career, is no stranger to professional fights, but this was his first fight outside South Africa and he soon realised that he was dubbed the underdog of the fight.
“I was scheduled to fight in June 2018, but a few things went wrong with my promoter which I was extremely upset about.
“That prompted me to leave my promoter and focus on my lifelong dream of moving to the USA.
“I had always wanted to build a name and record for myself in SA boxing first before leaving and I believe I have accomplished that.”
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Moving to a foreign land alone with no family was challenging for the boxer, but he soon met Kenny Adams, an American professional boxing trainer, who would propel him to glory.
The IBF minimumweight 12-round fight was no walkover for either of the boxers.
Kriel, who was not nervous in the change rooms and remained unshaken when he was booed, only got stage fright when he was in the ring.
The boxer chose Mama I Made It by Cassper Nyovest as his walkout song and said it gave him drive and confidence throughout his fight.
“The venue was filled with Licona supporters,” Kriel recalled.
“I think I had one South African supporter present at the venue, Chris van Heerden, a boxer from SA who now lives in the US who came out with about three friends to see me fight.”
The ring-rust seemed to get the better of Kriel in the early rounds and the fight swayed in his opponent’s favour.
“The first punch I threw was a jab. I remember being quite off in the fight, almost as though I was on autopilot,” said Kriel.
“I got stage fright and didn’t showcase my skills as I would have loved to.
“There are techniques we worked on which I did not use consistently in the fight.”
Kriel’s coach encouraged him from the corner and told him the fight was tight and if he had any dreams of winning this fight he would have to knock Licona out.
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“In the ninth and 10th rounds, I noticed my opponent’s punches were not as explosive as they were in previous rounds and I had to take advantage of that, I had to slow him down.
“It was further evident in rounds 11 and 12 that he was not moving like he was, he was falling into my trap and my body was working well with me at this stage.
“When I went back to the corner after round 11, my coach said to me, ‘Deejay, have you come all this way to lose? Do you want to lose this fight or do you want to win?’
“We were drawing to the home-time decision and I remember telling him I did not want to lose. Then it kicked in, I was in my championship fight, I was losing and had to make a change.
“Before I stepped back into the ring, Adams said to me that the only way to win was to knock my opponent out.”
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Kriel went into the last round guns blazing, throwing punches with all his might.
Right in the beginning of the final round, Kriel caught Licona with a big left hook which resulted in him clinging onto Kriel for dear life.
“After the referee separated us, I threw an over-right hand punch and caught him with a straight right as he was going down.
“My heart dropped and I knew I had him. I continued throwing punches.
“After the third knockdown, the referee stopped the fight,” Kriel said.
Kriel is now Adams’ 28th world champion.
Coming back from an 11-month sabbatical to emerge as a world title-holder was a momentous reality for Kriel, who said he was expecting a busy year in his career following this win.
“I had just wanted to make my family, friends, supporters and country proud and I have done that,” he said.
Kriel will soon return to the USA to prepare for his next fight taking place in three months, where he will defend his championship title.
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