Share

KO KID: OUR FIGHT PLAN WORKED!

accreditation
Hekkie Budler (left) and Siyabonga Siyo slug it out at Emperors Palace for the WBA Pan African junior flyweight title.  Photo by Themba Mkofane
Hekkie Budler (left) and Siyabonga Siyo slug it out at Emperors Palace for the WBA Pan African junior flyweight title. Photo by Themba Mkofane

SOUTH African boxing’s golden boy, Kevin “The KO Kid” Lerena, has given Danish prospect Micki “One Punch” Nielsen his first taste of defeat to win the Super Four cruiserweight final at Emperors Palace on Saturday.

The 24-year-old warrior registered a victory by majority on points over the highly rated Nielsen in a fight that seemed more like a wrestling match than a boxing contest. Both boxers were holding and wrestling each other, which saw veteran referee Stan Christodoulou having a busy night in separating them throughout the 10 rounds.

Lerena says everything went according to plan: “We knew Nielsen is talented and a hard puncher.

“The plan was to not allow him to get busy. I did exactly that and it worked.”

The confident Lerena feels certain he could beat any challenger out there.

Two judges scored in favour of the South African, with the scorecard of Jean-Robert Laine (France) reading 96-95 and Berit Andereasen (Denmark) scoring it 97-93, while South African judge Jaap van Niewenhuizen scored the contest a draw (95-95).

Lerana’s record improves to 17 wins and one defeat, while Nielsen who is ranked No 10 by the International Boxing Organisation, No 5 by the World Boxing Organisation, No 10 by the World Boxing Council and a lofty No 4 by the International Boxing Federation, drops to 22 wins and one defeat.

The talented fighter will get 60% of the R1,4 million in prize money.

- In the main supporting bout former South African welterweight champion Chris “The Heat” van Heerden celebrated his SA homecoming with a victory over tough Namibian Sacky Shikukutu to capture the WBA Pan African welterweight crown.

He has been campaigning in the United States since February 2014 and has had six fights, with his only loss coming against the highly rated Errol Spence Jr.

- Former WBA “super” minimumweight title holder Hekkie Budler returned to winning ways when he outfoxed Siyabonga Siyo, who was on the back foot for most of the time, to claim the vacant WBA Pan African junior flyweight title.

- In a grudge rematch, DeeJay Kriel proved that his first TKO win against Nyelisang Thagambega was not a fluke when he scored a fifth-round stoppage against Thagambega to become the new Gauteng provincial minimumweight champ.

- Making his professional debut, Nathan Hammond won with a TKO in the third round in his juior middleweight contest against Zamehlo Dludlu from Mpumalanga.

Get the best in Soccer, News and Lifestyle content with SNL24 PLUS
For 14 free days, you can have access to the best from Soccer Laduma, KickOff, Daily Sun, TrueLove and Drum. Thereafter you will be billed R29 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed.
Subscribe to SNL24 PLUS
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
SunFam, How do you normally spend Easter holidays?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Going to church
25% - 28 votes
Hosting or attending a family gathering
12% - 13 votes
Chilling at home
56% - 62 votes
Working
6% - 7 votes
Vote
Let us know what you think

Contact the People’s Paper with feedback on stories and how we could make dailysun.co.za even better!

Learn more
Do you have a story for the People’s Paper?

Click below to contact our news desk and share your story with SunLand!

Let's do it!