No sex please, we are champion boxers
by Bongani Magasela
2016-03-17 05:00:00.0
IN THE build-up to a fight, it is not just Hekkie Budler who must make sacrifices and be disciplined — wife Roxy also has to do her bit.
There is no frequenting of restaurants, and even conjugal privileges are suspended in the weeks before, Budler’s wife revealed this week as he prepared to defend his newly acquired WBA Super mini-flyweight belt, as well as his IBO strap, against Byron Rojas at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on Saturday night.
"I don’t bother him at all," said Roxy. "He is such a disciplinarian that even his trainer (Colin Nathan) does not mind that Hekkie no longer camps at his house as was the case before we got married in 2014.
"I know that there is time and space for everything."
Said Nathan: "He’s such a dedicated boy. He does not have sex for three weeks before a fight and I am not kidding you."
Budler said he did not want distractions because he did not want to blame anybody else if he did not perform at his best.
Thulani "Sugarboy" Malinga would abstain from sex two months before his fights. The general belief — yet to be proven — is that sex weakens the legs.
Like any other world champion — Budler wants to add the WBC, IBF and WBO belts to his collection so that he becomes the undisputed champion. Promoter Rodney Berman tried, but failed to get then IBF holder Katsunari Takayama, who lost that belt to Jose Argumedo.
Berman eventually persuaded the WBA championship committee to consider elevating Budler’s status of being a regular champion to the Super status so that Budler could get more credibility, which would ultimately force other sanctioning bodies to compel their champions to defend against the local star.
Berman said Budler would have to have his A game because Rojas comes to fight.
Nathan promised that Budler "will put up a show".
Former WBA champion Brian Mitchell, who made 12 defences of the junior-lightweight belt before adding the IBF strap, is confident Budler will retire undefeated. "I will then have competition," said Mitchell, who was undefeated.
Picture: THINKSTOCK
IN THE build-up to a fight, it is not just Hekkie Budler who must make sacrifices and be disciplined — wife Roxy also has to do her bit.
There is no frequenting of restaurants, and even conjugal privileges are suspended in the weeks before, Budler’s wife revealed this week as he prepared to defend his newly acquired WBA Super mini-flyweight belt, as well as his IBO strap, against Byron Rojas at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on Saturday night.
"I don’t bother him at all," said Roxy. "He is such a disciplinarian that even his trainer (Colin Nathan) does not mind that Hekkie no longer camps at his house as was the case before we got married in 2014.
"I know that there is time and space for everything."
Said Nathan: "He’s such a dedicated boy. He does not have sex for three weeks before a fight and I am not kidding you."
Budler said he did not want distractions because he did not want to blame anybody else if he did not perform at his best.
Thulani "Sugarboy" Malinga would abstain from sex two months before his fights. The general belief — yet to be proven — is that sex weakens the legs.
Like any other world champion — Budler wants to add the WBC, IBF and WBO belts to his collection so that he becomes the undisputed champion. Promoter Rodney Berman tried, but failed to get then IBF holder Katsunari Takayama, who lost that belt to Jose Argumedo.
Berman eventually persuaded the WBA championship committee to consider elevating Budler’s status of being a regular champion to the Super status so that Budler could get more credibility, which would ultimately force other sanctioning bodies to compel their champions to defend against the local star.
Berman said Budler would have to have his A game because Rojas comes to fight.
Nathan promised that Budler "will put up a show".
Former WBA champion Brian Mitchell, who made 12 defences of the junior-lightweight belt before adding the IBF strap, is confident Budler will retire undefeated. "I will then have competition," said Mitchell, who was undefeated.
