By Cliff Rold

It takes something extra to get much attention at 105 lbs. Wars help. Akira Yaegashi-Pornsawan Porpramook and Francisco Rodriguez-Katsunari Takayama had reach rare for their class with action rare for any class.

Individual fighters have worked harder for excellence than a single night’s mayhem could sometimes provide. For Ricardo Lopez, it was dominating the division for a decade. For Kazuto Ioka, it was an early title, unification, and move up the scale. Ivan Calderon, Donnie Nietes and Roman Gonzalez are additional examples of men who moved on from a class where the money, and eyes, are smaller.

South Africa’s Hekkie Budler has started to turn some heads. The IBO/WBA titlist makes for good fights and he’s starting to have the sort of reign that raises questions about how good he might be. This Saturday, he gets his latest chance to answer. He attempts his fifth defense of the WBA and tenth of the IBO against Byron Rojas. If he wins, it’s another step closer to the rare extra attention only a select few in boxing’s lightest class have received.

Can Rojas derail his momentum?    

Let’s go the report card.

The Ledgers

Hekkie Budler
Age: 27
Current Title: WBA Minimumweight (2014-Present, 4 Defenses), IBO Minimumweight (2011-Present, 9 Defenses).
Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’3
Weight: TBA
Hails from: Johannesburg, South Africa
Record: 29-1, 9 KO
Rankings: #1 (BoxingScene, TBRB, Ring), #2 (BoxRec)
Record in Major Title Fights: 5-0, 2 KO
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 3 (Florante Condes (UD12; Nkosinathi Joyi UD12; Chao Zhong Xiong UD12)

Vs.

Byron Rojas
Age: 26
Current/Previous Titles: None
Height: 5’3
Weight: TBA
?Hails from: Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Record: 16-2-3, 8 KO
Rankings: #9 (BoxingScene, TBRB)
Record in Major Title Fights: 1st title opportunity
Current/Former World Champions/Titlists Faced: 0

Grades

Pre-Fight: Speed – Budler B; Rojas B
Pre-Fight: Power – Budler B-; Rojas B-
Pre-Fight: Defense – Budler B; Rojas B-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Budler A; Rojas B

The thing that most stands out in this fight: the style clash. Both men are capable of boxing and moving; both men are willing to press. Of the two, Budler appears the more comfortable when it’s time to work going backwards. Either way, both men come willing to engage. It should be entertaining.

Budler is the harder man to hit. Budler, with wide shoulders and gangly arms, can be a hard shell to crack. He also has good head movement. He got dropped early by Xiong, and had all he could handle in his last fight with Simphiwe Khonco. His ability to defend, and find smart counter spots, were big factors in both fights.

Defense is a hard grade to assess for Rojas. In recent fights, he doesn’t appear to get hit much and blocks well. There isn’t a ton of head movement and there has not been a ton of resistance. To say he’s faced less than Budler is an understatement.

Rojas is making a tremendous leap in opponent quality. Budler hasn’t faced a the prime top of his class but he’s been in with several veterans and improved because of it. Rojas is moving from the rough and tumble of the local circuit to the global stage.

Is he ready for the leap in foe? Is he prepared for the pressure of a bigger stage?

He’ll probably have some rounds to work it out. Budler may score the occasional knockdown, even knockout, but he’s not been a remarkable puncher. Rojas isn’t either. He’s going to have to outwork, and outland, Budler for a full twelve rounds and convince road judges to lean his way.

It’s a tall task. For him to succeed, Rojas will need to shorten up some of his attack. Both men have good, straight jabs. Budler throws shorter, less telegraphed punches behind it. Sometimes Rojas can be seen winding up and coming wide at the target. Against Budler, that could see him touched and pushed off the target while his shots are still sailing.

In terms of intangibles, Rojas is a couple of narrow scorecards from undefeated. He’s been beaten but he doesn’t know really how to lose yet. Chins shouldn’t be an issue, at least not early on. If he makes a case, can he sustain it?

Budler has shown he knows how to win when a fight gets tough.

The Pick

Budler should do it again this weekend. Until Rojas faces a higher-level foe, it’s hard to say he can beat one. With home field advantage to Budler, it gets even harder. Rojas is going to make a fight of it for at least six rounds but the experience and seasoning of Budler will be too much in the back stretch. Look for Budler to win a decision here that, in its own way, makes Rojas a more viable and better force at 105 in the long run.

Report Card and Staff Picks 2016: 8-4

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel, the Yahoo Pound for Pound voting panel, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com