ISAAC Hlatshwayo punched his way to fame and fortune by winning the IBF welterweight title by outpointing Delvin Rodriguez in the US on Sunday morning.

For that Hlatshwayo, the former undefeated IBO champion, earned R540000 before it was taxed in the US. His purse money, equal to that of Rodriguez, was decided by the purse bid that was won by Star Boxing Promotions.

Hlatshwayo's purse is big, considering that the title was vacant. Lovemore Ndou and Phillip Ndou, who fought for the IBO strap last month, both earned R200000 before tax. Lovemore won that belt.

Hlatshwayo said: "I am a warrior. My job is to conquer.

"Let my manager Nick Durandt and my promoter Branco Milenkovic take care of my future."

Durandt wants him to face Lovemore in a unification bout, while Milenkovic is exploring several options.

"One of them is definitely the unification bout with WBC champion André Berto, who is promoted by my close associate Lou di Bela," Milenkovic said.

For the record, there is no mandate from the IBF for Hlatshwayo to defend within six months because he won a vacant title.

Milenkovic said it took him six months to get Hlatshwayo to fight for the IBF belt, and it was another battle to secure an equal purse for his fighter after Star Promotions had questioned his third ranking.

They had pushed for a 75-25 split but the board of governors sided with Milenkovic.

"I successfully requested the IBF to appoint him to be mandatory challenger to then champion Joshua Clottey, who was stripped because he opted to challenge for the WBO belt. At that time Delvin had won the eliminator for the number two spot, " Milenkovic said.