By Monwabisi Jimlongo
With fights hard to come by, former world champion Gideon ‘Hardcore’ Buthelezi does not know what would have become of him had it not been for his tyre business in the Vaal Triangle.
Buthelezi has not fought since he suffered a first round stoppage loss to Dave Apolinario from the Philippines in a vacant International Boxing Organisation (IBO) flyweight title fight at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) in July 2022.
The 37-year-old Buthelezi, who is still a Boxing South Africa (BSA) licensee, is hoping for a change of fortunes when the new fiscal kicks in in April.
“It’s not good to be a licensed boxer and not get fights just like it has been the case with me. We, as boxers, should have plans because it’s not always the case that we will get fights,” Boipatong-born Buthelezi said.
Currently, Buthelezi is trained by former International Boxing Federation (IBF) Africa and World Boxing Federation (WBF) International junior-middleweight champion France Ramabolu.
“That I have not had fights does not mean I won’t apply for a licence this year. I still want to box,” the former IBO minimumweight, junior-flyweight and junior-bantamweight champion said.
