By Ron Jackson

South Africa’s most decorated fighter Hekkie Budler returns to action when he meets the southpaw Filipino Enrique Magasalin on Saturday night at the Unisa Hall in Ormonde, Johannesburg.

The tournament will be shown live on Supersport.

Budler, who will celebrate his 35th birthday on May 18, made his pro debut on July 5, 2007, and in compiling a of 34-4, 10 KOs, he has won the IBO All Africa junior flyweight, IBO junior flyweight, IBO strawweight, WBA interim minimumweight, WBA minimumweight, WBA super minimumweight, WBA Pan African junior flyweight, IBO light flyweight and WBC silver light flyweight titles.

The 27-year-old Magasalin (8-4-2, 1 KO), who made his pro debut in December 2016, has lost two of his last three fights and has only had one ten-rounder, which he lost.

The odds are stacked against the Filipino who has limited power with only one stoppage win on his record.

Even though he has been inactive for some time, The Ring magazine independent ratings have Budler listed at #3 junior flyweight and the WBC have him at #1.

On paper, this looks like a complete mismatch.

However, this is a must-win fight for Budler as he hopes to challenge Kenshiro Teraj for the WBA and WBC junior flyweight titles in August in Japan.

There are five fights on the undercard including former IBF light flyweight champion DeeJay Kriel (17-2-1, 8 KOs) who will be in against Sandeep Kumar (12-1-1, 8 KOs) and having his second fight since losing his belt to Felix Alvarado in January 2021.