It was an offer Hekkie ‘Hexecutioner’ Budler and his management couldn’t refuse as boxing promoter Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions offered him a step aside fee to let Japanese boxer Kenshiro Teraji face Jonathan Gonzalez from Puerto Rico.
World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) ‘Super’ junior-flyweight champion Teraji had been ordered by the WBC to make a mandatory defence against Budler.
However, that is not going to happen anymore as Honda is paying Budler a ‘ridiculous’ amount of money to step aside so that Teraji can clash with World Boxing Organisation (WBO) junior-flyweight champion Gonzalez in a unification bout in April.
“Hekkie Budler will be fighting the winner of Gonzalez-Teraji in July/August. We have been offered a great business deal from Teiken Promotions, which we have accepted for step aside. Also a title shot with a guarantee in writing with the winner of Gonzalez-Teraji. We’re very excited about this venture,” Budler’s trainer Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan said.
The 34-year-old Budler put himself in a very good position to challenge Teraji after he outpointed former WBO junior-flyweight champion Elwin Soto in an elimination bout in Mexicali, Mexico, in June last year.
Meanwhile, Teraji stopped Hiroto Kyoguchi in November last year and Gonzalez defeated Shokichi Iwata by a unanimous decision in the same tournament.
