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Former IBO champion Hekkie Budler – back on the comeback trail
After a flurry of weekend activity, the two upcoming Golden Gloves bills are closer to being finalised.
In perhaps the biggest change, Sipho Taliwe has been taken off the August 29 bill at Emperors Palace, to be co-hosted with African Ring, which will now be headlined by Flo Simba.
This will be Simba’s first fight since his defeat to Fransie Botha. His opponent will be WBA Pan-African champion Thamsanqa Dube (11-2), whose most notable opponent was Jake Els, whom he stopped in eight rounds.
Simba hasn’t fought since the Botha defeat, but manager Brian Mitchell is convinced he won’t let the defeat deter him. “He’s back in the gym and fighting fit,” said Mitchell. “He’s a smart guy and has learned the lessons. He’s hitting the bag harder than ever and is determined to get back in the win column.”
In explaining the Taliwe cancellation, promoter Rodney Berman said: “Unfortunately his Kenyan opponent’s record never stood up to scrutiny, so we decided to scratch the fight altogether. Flo topping the bill is no bad thing.”
Golden Gloves are still scouring for opponents for Warren Joubert and Adam De Moor, while the other fights have been signed but are awaiting Boxing South Africa approval.
Meanwhile, at a media conference next Tuesday Golden Gloves will officially announce the “Blockbuster” bill for Emperors Palace on September 24.
There are some terrific match-ups, chiefly Chris van Heerden (against a fellow South African), plus the like of Hekkie Budler, Bongo Lipemba, Samuel Malinga, Flo Simba, Zack Mwekassa and Thabiso Mchuna.
July 11, 2011 at 2:08 pm, Duncan said:
Great to see Hekkie is fighting again a big up to GGP Flo show us what its about boet.
July 11, 2011 at 4:55 pm, Pierre said:
Awesome – looking forward to it already.
Tamsanqa Dube has fought one guy 4 times and another guy 3 times. There must be a shortage of heavyweights in Zimbabwe.
July 11, 2011 at 7:17 pm, dilo said:
How can this Dube guy be champion of anything. Here you go again labeling som1 a champion and think it adds hype. By the looks of things, Dube is a Mickey Mouse champion and it is obvious that he was just picked to get Flo back up again. I want to hear about how Flo learned from his lose. How he has decided never to smile at opponents in the ring and to box and not throw wild punches. Tell it to us straight. Things the fans want to hear. All the best to Flo. I wish for your sake that u box and win on points and don’t decieve yourself with a quick knockout. 5 to 8 year plan my brother, not a 1 year plan to be world champ.if it happens sooner, bonus. Seriously, does any1 think Budler is going to be a world beater? He is average and even at his best could only beat average guys. He should go study and do somtin else with his life. Dingaan should go and give back to the sport by mentoring youngsters on how not to waste money and never think of makin a comback again
July 12, 2011 at 8:01 am, Barb said:
Firstly With all due respect to “dilo” I don’t think you are supporting the Golden Golves fighters to me it sounds like all you are trying to do is to let Mr Berman and his boxers look like second grade teams. To me it sounds like you are in the team of Bronco and and Nick Durant. Leave our golden boys alone. If you do not support them please dont run them down on this website.
July 12, 2011 at 8:39 am, Quentin said:
It’s is easy to build up an impressive record against guys thats no good. Flo had one fight against a real heavyweight (past his prime) and what happened? Now we back to the clowns
July 12, 2011 at 9:50 am, Flo Simba fan said:
GGP-
THANX ALOT FOR THIS 1 I KNOW THAT FLO LEARN OUT OF THIS FIGHT OF FRANCOIS,AND BELIEVE ME HE IS BETTER NOW.
YOU GO AND SHOW THEM WERE YOU COME FROM, AND WERE YOU GOING TO (WBA PAN AFRICAN CHAMPION) AND YOU WILL BEAT THAMSANQA DUBE.
July 12, 2011 at 11:53 am, graham said:
dube and trainer phil striker;do your country proud.You may not have all the cash and hype like flo and other boxers do,but all that does’t count in the ring.
July 12, 2011 at 1:53 pm, Duncan said:
@ Dilo dude you have serious issues with GGP fighters boet hope you change your views some day we all like the comments but I think you dont like GGP fighters at all I hear is how bad fighters is.Common man give these blokes a chance.
July 12, 2011 at 4:34 pm, dilo said:
Well, all arguments are based on fact mixed with opinion. Fact, Budler lost to an average boxer twice. Opinion, I think he would be better suited to do something else. Fact, Flo was smiling and therefore lost the mind games against Baloon Botha. He was trying to prove something, rather than get a points win.he was wild and showed lack of experience. Opinion, poor training, poor mindset going into d fight. I believe that he needs time. He does not need to hog headlines and headline bills at this stage. Now, my opinion is that Durandt is arrogant. Mind u, I don’t no d man, so maybe 1 day I might change my mind. Fact Branco has champions and to me it seems like he does his best for boxers. Remember when he made huge loses to bring Steve Molitor to d country? And it is good for him that Takalani won d title. I am also a huge critic of Branco and feel that he is not doing enough in d townships and for amatur boxing. I am d bigest fan and also d bigest critic of boxing. We cannot always say what u want to hear. I say what fans want to see. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is admit the truth. And remember, there is only 1 sport, everything else is just a game!
July 13, 2011 at 6:33 am, Flo Simba fan said:
GRAHAM,
MONEY DOES’T COUNT MY FRIEND-PROUD THAT’S WHAT COUNT
THE COUNT THAT DUBE IS GOING TO GET IS THE COUNT TO 10
THAT’S THE SOUTH AFRICAN PROUD & COUNT
July 13, 2011 at 8:19 am, Pierre said:
Flo Simba fan – you were shouting like that before the Francois Botha fight as well. Seriously dude, haven’t you learned your lesson yet?
dilo – I agree with most of what you say, but I think your disrespect towards Francois Botha is totally misplaced. With a record of 48-5-3, and those five losses representing Tyson, Moorer, Lewis, Wlad Klitschko and Holyfield, Botha has built an excellent career for himself and done South Africa proud. He has certainly been more successful than Pierre Coetzer or Johnny du Plooy, and much more successful than Courage Tshabalala or Peter Smith. He could also be considered more successful than Corrie Sanders. True, he never got a “huge” win like Corrie did against Wlad Klitschko, but on the other hand, Botha never got beaten by nobodies like Nate Tubbs, Ross Purrity and Osborne Machimana, either.
July 13, 2011 at 8:57 am, Barb said:
Dilo
Based on the fact that your comments are based on your opinion, we will just ignore
The fact that you are jealous of young Budler is a pity. Budler lost one fight.
Let me tell you he is great sportsman and we love him. Not only as a boxer but a person.
He is loved by many and has always been. Sorry for your loss. And by the way Flo is as much loved as Budler is.
ilo
July 14, 2011 at 10:05 am, dilo said:
Let me say that Vetyeka has proved that he deserves a shot. He has put in d hard yards over the years and is now geting some reward. And he is now a ggp boxer. But tell me, why was nobody screaming when he was 21? Now some ppl are makin huge noices about a handfull of youngsters. No chaps, put in the hard yard and you will earn it 1 day. There is no need to market young fights as bill headliners at this stage. It puts too much presure on the guys. Flo will 1 day be a champion, but this is only if he is managed well outside d ring. Mindset is 70percent of d game. This is why he lost to an overweight Botha, not becos Botha is better, but Botha beat him at mind games and drew him into a wild brawl. He could hav kept his distance and easily won on points, but becos he is the headline of the show, the pressure was there and he taught he had to KO Botha. It was obvious from the round 1 that Botha had won d mind games b4 the fight. Flo was shyly smiling and never had a serious but cool attitude. And sorry for calling Botha Balloon, I meant overweight,fat. Budler may be a good kid and I wish the best for him, but I do not like him as a boxer, and hey, that’s just my opinion, there may b many who do think he could be world champ, not ibo, and this is a free country, so if you don’t like my opinion, its your right. Lastly, David Haye should respect the sport. The is room for witty insults, but not to the extent he went. It was a bit like a Durandt flashback, overdone.
July 14, 2011 at 7:41 pm, Pierre said:
dilo – your disrespect for the Buffalo is really starting to annoy me. You are wrong – Botha beat Simba because Botha is a better fighter, and for no other reason. Your statement that Flo “could hav kept his distance and easily won on points” is ridiculous. How was Flo going to keep Botha off him with no jab, no lateral movement, and no combinations? I agree with you on one thing though: if Flo had finished the fight on his feet, he would have got the decision. Not because he deserved it, but because of the hopelessly biased and ignorant judges that hold sway in SA boxing.
July 15, 2011 at 10:58 am, dilo said:
Well, you have some good points, and there are 10 different opinions on that fight on here. I have my opinion and you have yours. Yes, if Flo finished d fight on his feet, he may still have lost, and this is becos he failed to apply his skill and was overored by the ocasion. But if he boxed and was not drawn into a brawl, he would have won. Lessons learnt I hope.I also believe that Botha was a good boxer amoung the average in his division, but amoung the top heavyweights, he got ko’ed by d best and was therefore very average when pooled with Klitchko,tyson,lewis,holyfield in there prime.
July 18, 2011 at 8:19 am, Silvio Rangel said:
Dilio I think u hav sum personal issues first u say flo simba is nt good enough to be a champion then u say he can be a champion,wats wrong with flo smiling dts da type of person he is his a happy guy n a friendly person he dosent let boxing get into his head n think his da best thing dat happened to boxing,flo knows dat boxin is jus a sport a sport which he enjoys a sport that includes knockin ppl out but at the end he knows that its nothing personal n he can still be friends with the person,it looks lik u the type of person that likes boxers that go around walking around PRETENDING to be the best and wanting to fight with every1 he sees in n out the ring,well sory but flo isn’t lik dat.its funy hw u say flo mus grow slowly but by him gettin these opponents dat u claim aren’t worthy opponents u start complanin sayin dat its to easy for flo n al dat.bt wen flo faces some1 like botha u ready to juge n say he was managed wrong n it was to seeon,wen its ppl lik u dats puttin da wrong pressure fr him to gt managed wrong,flo is a happy guy n loves to joke around wats wrong with dat?since wen was boxing fr guys dat hav stress.n hekie had 1loss now u sayin his not good?so tyson,ali,hav had losses so does dat made dem useless a
lso
July 18, 2011 at 8:22 am, Silvio Rangel said:
Dilo I must say dat I do agress with u on ur statement that if flo used his reach n kept his distance he would hace won the fight on point or maybe tire out botha n knock him out,but that’s the mistake he made n he leareded from his mistake,now we wait n c hw he does on his next fight
July 21, 2011 at 6:32 pm, ryan said:
Dilo you most certainly know the boxing business. I only like talking boxing with people that truly know how the, unfortunately,shady world of boxing works… If you’re a good boxer and you don’t sign with ggp, or any of their friends for that matter, then you’ll be robbed of a career… Ah the shady world of boxing, so much talent lost.