Hekkie Budler stopped in title bid

Hekkie Budler’s bid to reclaim his world champion status ended in defeat in Tokyo on Monday afternoon after he was stopped in the ninth round by champion Kenshiro Teraji.

The brave 35-year-old challenger gave it his all, but in the end too many right hands wore him down until Teraji hurt him in the ninth round and pounced, forcing the referee to step in and wave it.

Budler, a former IBF and WBA junior-flyweight title-holder, dropped to 35 wins and five defeats while Teraji improved to 22-1 (14 KOs) to keep his WBC and WBA belts.

The South African started the fight on the outside, ceding the centre of the ring to Teraji and moving to his left, away from his opponent’s right.

When Budler moved forward in the next stanza he took control, giving the 31-year-old champion problems on the inside.

But the one problem Budler couldn’t overcome was the thudding right hand that kept landing, marking his eyes.

Budler was in his element brawling with the bigger puncher, but by the midway point he seemed to have lost his form and his punches lacked power.

By then the writing was on the wall. When Teraji nailed Budler in the ninth he jumped on him, clipped him with a left and then fired bombs to the head, signalling the referee to step in to rescue the challenger.