South Africa’s IBO minimum weight title holder, Hekkie Budler, reckons he is in fine form for his defence against Hugo Verchelli.
Fight Force boxing tournament will take place on Saturday November 9 at Emperors Palace. The tournament will be staged by Golden Gloves promotions in conjunction with Emperors Palace.
“I have trained well and think that I am in good shape. I am ready for anything that comes my way. The one thing that I don’t worry about is strategy, as that is the department of my Colin (Nathan),” said Budler at the Press Conference on Wednesday October 30 at the Hot Box Gymnasium. The WBA interim title will also be on the line in this fight.
“We have prepared for this and have trained well. I have my fitness trainer and did a lot of rounds in the ring.”
“My task is very easy, with Hekkie there has never been a problem to get him into the ring,” said Colin Nathan trainer at Hot Box gym. “The time he lost, I took the responsibility on myself, that I had the wrong game plan. This time we will have the correct plan when going into the ring.”
The Nathan camp said that they have watched a lot of tapes on their opponent and pointed out that he’s a tall southpaw counter-puncher with a decent dig.
To help prepare, Budler has engaged in loads of sparring. Pressure fighter Klaas Mboyane has pushed him all the way, while slick junior-welterweight prospect Adam de Moor has offered movement and power, giving him the best of both worlds.
The stakes are high for Budler. Promoter Rodney Berman confirmed that the tournament would also be broadcast in Argentina, the Middle East, France and the US. The world will be watching.
The Hot Box gym will be in full force on Saturday evening as Adam de Moor and Ashley Dlamini will also be on the cards. De Moor is back on track after a short lapse of losing one of his fights due to injury. His record reads won 8 KO 6, lost 1.
Dlamini has a fine record of won 14 KO 8 and lost 2, drawn 2.
Apart for Budler being one of the two main draw cards, Tommy Oosthuizen IBO super-middleweight champion faces Ezequiel Maderna in the other main fight.
