By Vadim Pushkin
Last October at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa, former WBA/IBO minimumweight champion Hekkie Budler (29-2, 9KOs) returned to the ring for the first time since his shocking March 2016 upset at the hands of Byron Rojas.
He turned back a tough challenge from Siyabonga Siyo (10-2), by securing a unanimous twelve round decision victory with scores of 118-110, 116-112, 116-112.
Prior to his defeat, Budler was regarding as one of the best fighters in the world. He is very motivated to reclaim that recognition.
According to the Cebu Daily News, Budler is now going to step in the ring with Filipino fighter Joey Canoy for the vacant International Boxing Organization (IBO) world junior flyweight title on February 4 in Gauteng, South Africa.
Canoy, a 23-year old native of General Santos City, holds a record of 12-2-1 with six knockouts.
There is a huge edge in experience in favor of Budler. Canoy captured the the Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) minimumweight title last year, and won his last two fights against fellow Filipino boxers Fabio Marfa and Toto Landero.
Canoy's trainer, Brix Flores, told the paper that they are expecting a very tough fight, but he's confident of victory. Because the contest is taking place in Budler's backyard, he would rather see his boxer avoid the possibility of getting jobbed by the judges. He wants to see him close out the fight with a knockout. They started training camp for the contest in November in Cebu.
“He’s got a big chance of winning this fight. Canoy has the speed to win over Budler,” said Flores, who is also the trainer of the reigning WBO world bantamweight champion Marlon “Nightmare” Tapales.
“But we have to develop his power because we have to make sure he will win by knockout. Otherwise, he might lose if the fight goes the distance.”
