CORRIE Sanders, who died early on Sunday morning after being shot by armed robbers, was an all-round talented sportsman best known for his boxing exploits.
In his most famous victory he knocked out Vladimir Klitschko in the second round on March 8 2003, silencing 11,000 partisan fans packed into the Preussag indoor arena in Hanover, Germany.
He put the giant Ukrainian fighter on the canvas four times in what surely ranks as one of the most explosive performances in world heavyweight boxing, matching Jack Dempsey's demolitions of Luis Angel Firpo and Jess Willard, as well as Mike Tyson's early quick-route wins.
George Foreman, who steam-rolled Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in world heavyweight title bouts in the 1970s, was a commentator at ringside that night, and was gobsmacked. "He couldn't talk," said Vernon Smith, Sanders's manager at the time. "He just sat there with his mouth hanging open."
Sanders's win was immense. At the time Klitschko was widely considered the heir apparent to Lennox Lewis, and the only time the world's two top-ranked heavyweights actually got into the same ring was for a fight scene in the movie Oceans Eleven.
Sanders was also an excellent golfer who got his handicap down to scratch at times, as well as a skilled flyhalf and inside centre who represented Northern Transvaal at Craven Week.
Sanders, whose first paid job was as a policeman, turned professional in 1989 and in his 11th professional fight won the SA title with a first-round knockout of Johnny du Plooy in 1991.
He went on to become the longest-reigning SA heavyweight champion, holding the belt for nearly eight years, relinquishing it in 1998 without having received a single challenge.
Sanders is survived by his son and daughter.