By Monwabisi Jimlongo
South Africa’s most successful boxer Hekkie ‘Hexecutioner’ Budler has secured a keep-busy fight against Kitidech Hirunsuk from Thailand.
Budler faces the 20-year-old Thai boxer at the UNISA Conference Centre in Johannesburg on Saturday, 6 May. This catchweight bout is going to take place 12 days before the former World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight champion celebrates his 35th birthday.
Budler will use the Hirunsuk bout to prepare for his fight against current World Boxing Council (WBC) and WBA junior-flyweight titlist Kenshiro ‘The Amazing’ Teraji from Japan later this year. Teraji, a Japanese, stopped American boxer Anthony Olascuaga in Japan last Saturday.
“It’s gonna be at catchweight. I think this is a perfect opponent for us to keep busy. As you know, we are in line to fight Shiro in August in Japan,” Budler’s award-winning trainer Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan said.
Budler, who has not fought since his win over Mexican boxer Elwin Soto in an elimination bout in Mexico in June last year, has an impressive record of 34 victories with 10 knockouts and four defeats while Hirunsuk has won 11 times (six stoppages) and lost four times.
