BoxRec

adamiw wrote:the biggest thing here is the climatisation (bad spelling i think). You need 2 weeks at the very least. Remember Lewis-Rahman, Starie-Thysse.

Englishmen Noel Wilders is unfazed about taking on Silence Mabuza, one of South Africa's top boxers, next weekend.

"At the end of the day, you're as good as you are," says the native of Castleford, near Leeds. "He's the best in his country at his weight and I'm the best in my country at my weight. It will be a cracker."


Wilders challenges Mabuza for the IBO bantamweight crown at the Carousel casino on Saturday night - fighting for a title he held briefly in 2000 and 2001.


He didn't lose the belt in the ring, however, being stripped for inactivity.


But Wilders's pedigree can probably be better judged by the two other titles he's held - the British and European. The only defeat of his 26-bout career came last year when he was stopped by David Guerault for the continental belt in the seventh round.


"I was complacent for that fight," admits Wilders, the British amateur champion in 1995. "I wasn't dedicated in training. But that won't happen again."


And Wilders knows he can't be complacent this time. Having seen video tapes of Mabuza, he knows the calibre of his opponent. "He looks a classy fighter - an all-rounder. But I'm confident. I think I've got the ability to beat him."


His trainer, Michael Marsden, had the same sentiment. "He [Mabuza] is very slick and he looks a bit of a puncher."


Wilders considers himself a boxer. "I'm a mover, pick my punches. I'm more a classy boxer than a bang 'em out type."


His knockout ratio of just seven from 24 victories is testament to that.


At school he excelled at middle- distance and cross-country running as well as rugby league. But boxing was the sport that grabbed him. "It's just been a way of life - I'd be lost without boxing," says Wilders, a bricklayer by trade.


He first donned gloves 19 years ago when he went to the gym with his older brother, Nicky, a professional in the 1990s.


At 29, southpaw Wilders goes into what could be his toughest assignment.


In South African boxing, the bantamweight division has traditionally been the strongest.


It was where SA claimed its first Olympic boxing medal (Willie Smith's gold in 1924); where SA won its only undisputed world title (Vic Toweel in 1952).


And it's also there where SA fight fans saw one of the greatest ring battles of all time, when Arnold Taylor rose from the canvas to knock out Romeo Anaya for the WBA belt in 1973.


Since then, Mbulelo Botile (IBF), Lehlohonolo Ledwaba (WBU) and Patrick Quka (WBU) have won versions of the world bantamweight crown. Now Mabuza, 27, is the man in possession.


Wilders has the edge in experience with his record of 24-1-1 to Mabuza's 15-0 (14 KOs) - and he will need to draw on every ounce of it if he is to win back a title he never lost in the ring.

J wrote:where exactly is this casino anyone know?
If its at altitude he doesnt have a prayer with one week to acclimatise.