Gift "Sheriff" Bholo is living proof that perseverance is the mother of all success.

He was dismissed as hopeless after losing most of his fights.

Even when the 31-year-old fighter, who is trained in Alexandra by little known trainer William Mabele, won the ABU junior welterweight belt in 2017, that victory still did not get his detractors off his shoulders.

Bholo lost that belt in the boardrooms because he failed to defend within stipulated period. His detractors came hard on him like vultures when he was stopped in the seventh round by five-fight novice Jabulani Makhense for the Gauteng title in October.

But his nerves of steel kept him focused and today he is on the verge of challenging for SA junior welterweight title that is held by Xolani Mcotheli.

This is the result of his gamble by accepting a catchweight bout on the 11th hour against big Eastern Boxing Union welterweight German champion Timo Schwarzkopf.

The fight took place on March 16 in Kempton Park.

Bholo was preparing for Marcus Lebogo when he was approached to face Schwarzkopf. Bholo saw the offer to fight Schwarzkopf as his biggest fight to date.

The German tipped the scale at 67,05kg (junior middleweight) while Bholo was 64,95kg, which is 1kg over the junior welterweight limit.

In the end, judges Namhla Tyuluba and Ben Ncapayi scored the fight 59-55 and 58-56 for Bholo while Tony Nyangiwe declared it a draw at 57-57.

Bholo is now rated No3, a spot below Makhense and Lebogo. If Makhense, who has just won the WBA Pan African title, is not interested in the SA title, the opportunity will be given to Lebogo.

But Lebogo must win against Humbulani Netshamutshedzi in a non-title bout in Kagiso on Saturday night. Defeat for Lebogo will see him forfeit the No 2 position and Bholo will move up to the second position.

Bholo attributed his victory to US-based South African Chris van Heerden.

"I noticed that Chris beat this guy, so I started chatting to him and he advised me to use my jab and go down to his body because that guy uses over rights all the time. Chris helped me and I am grateful to him," Bholo said.