The team that’s going to accompany Hekkie ‘Hexecutioner’ Budler to Mexico for his fight against Mexican boxer Elwin ‘La Pulga’ Soto has been finalised.
Apart from Budler and his trainer Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan, the boxer’s stablemate DeeJay Kriel and Bernie Pailman are in the travelling party.
Kriel, a former International Boxing Federation (lBF) minimumweight champion, is Budler’s sparring partner while Pailman is an experienced trainer who’s going to assist Nathan.
Budler is due to face Soto in a World Boxing Council (WBC) junior-flyweight eliminator in Palanque Fex in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, on Saturday, 25 June (Sunday, 26 June, South African time).
Mexicali in Baja California is where Soto, a former World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior-flyweight champion, resides.
“There’s four of us going to Mexico. It’s me, Hekkie, DeeJay Kriel and Bernie Pailman. I’m busy working on our travel arrangements. We are looking at leaving on the 16th or 17th,” Nathan said.
The winner of the Budler-Soto clash is guaranteed a shot at reigning WBC junior-flyweight champion Kenshiro ‘The Amazing Boy’ Teraji’s title.
Teraji from Japan stopped his compatriot Masamichi Yabuki in the third round during their rematch in March this year. The 30-year-old Teraji avenged last September’s 10th round stoppage loss to Yabuki.
