Rising stars of Witpoortjie Boxing Club

The Witpoortjie Amateur Boxing Club is one of the oldest boxing clubs in Roodepoort.

It was established in 1952 and is currently led by chairman and head coach Phillip du Randt, vice-chairman and assistant coach Theo Lindeque along with conditioning coach Gerrie Pelser.

The club has started the careers of current WBA and IBO strawweight champion Hekkie Budler and current World Boxing Council silver belt champion as well as the South African light heavyweight champion Johnny Muller.

“We are the best amateur boxing club in Roodepoort and the list of big names such as Hekkie and Johnny who started their careers with us proves that. But boxing is not just about competing and being in the ring, it also teaches self defence, discipline and our fitness regimen helps those who want to keep fit and healthy,” said Lindeque.

The assistant coach also bragged about some of his star pupils such as senior club captain James Britz, Jared Hensberg, Lulu Smith, Dawn Deutschmann and Gerrit Beukes. All four are aiming for the Gauteng and South African national championships while Beukes has put off going professional for a year to polish his boxing skills further.

Jared is one of the rising stars from the club even though he started boxing early last year. The 16-year-old is already a junior club captain but an injury to his right hand delayed his progress.

“It looked like fun so I decided to join the club. I played rugby and done some wrestling before but I really enjoy boxing more,” he said.
Lulu Smith is another rising star from the gym. The 19-year-old started as a kickboxer at the age of nine, even taking part in the 2012 Kickboxing World championships in Slovakia. But the boxing bug bit her as she was training for her trip to Slovakia.

“I wanted to sharpen my skills and boxing helped with that. After the kickboxing championships, I decided to train in the sport full time,” she said.
Her dedication in boxing led her to be chosen to represent South Africa at the African Youth Games in Namibia last year and the 2014 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Bulgaria.

Lulu’s goals in the sport are to participate in the Olympics but she jokes that first she has to find a date for Valentine’s Day.
“Although having a date is important, taking part in the Olympics would be amazing. Being in Namibia and Bulgaria was definitely an experience and I learnt a lot there,” she said.

The club is open to boys and girls from all ages. Training starts at 6pm to 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Witpoortjie Recreational and community centre.