Budler gives his best before stoppage defeat to flyweight champ Teraji

Never mind the outcome of the unified world boxing title which was won by WBA, WBC and The Ring junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in Tokyo on Monday afternoon, Hekkie “Hexecutioner” Budler gave his best but unfortunately Teraji was an immovable force on the day.

Budler was rescued by the referee as he needed that intervention in the ninth round because there was nothing coming from the 35-year-old South African, who appeared to have been exhausted.

He had tried very hard and gallantly to derail the champion who kept coming forward like a locomotive train.

The Japanese took everything thrown at him and never flinched, but instead stuck to his aggressive style which forced Budler to either move around or fight on the backfoot.

But Teraji was unable to corner Budler and bombard him with his power punches due to the fact that Budler is a ring veteran who knows exactly how to extricate himself from potentially dangerous situations.

Also there is not much effect from punches that are landed by a fighter who is on the backfoot unless they are used to that stance. Hekkie is not. He prefers to move around but mainly go forward and use main his hand speed to outbox his opponents because he does not carry that damning power. 

Budler did so well for four rounds and his quick hands seemed to confound Teraji, whose approach was that of someone who wanted the fight to be fought in the pocket because he is a big puncher.

Teraji worked Budler’s body from the start – taking out the stamina, while Budler mixed his punches, connecting with head and body shots. But judging by Teraji's response when he was caught, Budler did not hurt him at all.

The tide turned in round six when Budler decided to stand and trade punches. They exchanged an avalanche of combinations but Teraji landed the most telling blows.

The challenger who was ushered to war by trainers Colin Nathan and Shannon Strydom took a slight breather in the seventh and eighth rounds, although he stole a punch now and then as the champion was doing the chasing.

The confidence was growing from the champion who looked to be cruising going into the ninth round. Teraji began picking and choosing the appropriate blows on Budler's body in the ninth and nothing was coming back from Budler who was rescued by the referee.

That was Budler’s second stoppage loss in four defeats in 40 fights with 35 wins. Budler has previously held the IBO and WBA  minimumweight, IBO, WBA Super, IBF and The Ring Magazine junior flyweights titles.