The Giant King is off to Russia
Ruann has fought overseas before, having fought in matches in the United States of America and Germany
Ruann Visser (also known in boxing circles as the Giant King), currently South Africa’s top heavyweight boxing champion, is heading off to Russia to fight against Apti Davtaev for the IBF International Heavyweight Title in September.
Ruann has fought overseas before, having fought in matches in the United States of America and Germany.
“I have always been interested in sport,” Ruann told the WITBANK NEWS, “I started wrestling at age three, but stopped soon after at age eight. Thereafter I fell in love with rugby and played up until the age of 21 when a knee injury forced me to bow out.”
Not only was Ruann a promising young wrestler and later on a talented rugby player, but he was also an avid golfer.
“Between the ages of about 15 and 16, I was in the Gary Player School for Champions,” Ruann beamed.
But everything changed on one fateful night that Ruann and his father went to watch a boxing match between Michael Grant and Francois Botha at Monte Casino.
“That very same night the bug bit me, and I fell in love with boxing,” explained Ruann, “So I was 22 when I started boxing. I’m 28-years-old now. I fought my first professional boxing match at age 24 in the United States of America having never actually fought an amateur match before the time.”
Ruann’s upcoming fight in Russia is a biggie.
He’ll be facing off against Apti, who has been earmarked by the Russians as their future world champion.
“This match won’t be won on points, especially not there in Russia, so I’ll definitely be going for a knock-out blow,” Ruann elaborated, “At the moment I’m busy with my training camp for the fight. There are four and a half weeks left of this training camp; so I’ll be in excellent form for the upcoming fight.”
What about the future? Well, Ruann says ultimately he’d like to become world champion, but that at the moment he is 200% focussed on his upcoming fight against Apti.
“Of course the future means nothing without this fight. I have to win this fight first, so at the moment I’m just throwing myself into it heart and soul,” Ruann concluded.
