Newlands boxer Hector ‘Hekkie’ Budler to defend world title
NEWLANDS – Local boxer looks forward to one of the biggest fights of the year, in Macau.
Hector ‘Hekkie’ Budler has another decisive fight ahead of him as he aims to defend his title from an undefeated, up-and-coming challenger.
The 30-year-old Newlands boxer will travel to Macau for one of the biggest fights of the year to try to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) junior flyweight title against Japan’s Hiroto Kyoguchi on New Year’s Eve.
Kyoguchi has 11 wins out of 11 fights, including eight knockouts, and Budler will not rest on his laurels in training to fight this worthy opponent.
“[Kyoguchi] is fast, strong and young. I am starting to work on my strategy against him and I can say I am going there to win,” said Budler. “I will work on my head movement because he moves a lot and uses angles.”
In May, Budler became the first South African boxer to hold three major world crowns simultaneously when he won the WBA, International Boxing Federation (IBF) and The Ring magazine titles after one fight against another Japanese boxer, Ryoichi Taguchi, in his home country.
Budler has a great deal of experience under his proverbial belt, with 32 wins (including 10 knockouts) and three losses in his career.
At one time he was the international upstart who challenged the established boxers, and now knows all-too-well the ebb and flow of the boxing world stage.
“It helps to actually spend a lot of time as a boxer in amateur status so you can box nearly every week. You get more experience and learn to fight before you go pro.”
He said the reason for his own success in boxing is hard work and training rigorously before every fight so there are no feelings of being underprepared.
With a month to go before the big day, Budler is already training with the gloves six days a week and running six days a week, as well.
Budler still holds The Ring title but relinquished the IBF title recently when a fight’s earnings were not worth him making the trip to fight.
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