JOHANNESBURG – Hekkie Budler hates losing. He always has.
"When I was a kid, I would throw pieces of a board game all over the place if I lost," Budler says, the boyish smile on his face giving away his embarrassment at what he now realises was silly childish behaviour.
"And in a team sport like football or rugby I used to blame everyone but myself whenever we lost."
It is this loathing of losing that has been the driving force behind Budler's highly successful boxing career that sees him on the verge of adding a fourth world title to his name.
On Saturday at Emperors' Palace, a venue that has now become his slaughterhouse of sorts, Budler will be out to add to his 30 professional wins when he squares up to Filipino Joey Canoy for the vacant IBO junior flyweight title.
It is a fight Budler, who has two losses against his name, is not taking lightly, not after he had his reign as a WBA champion abruptly ended by Nicaraguan Byron Rojas.
Sure he has gotten back to winning ways after that, but that shock defeat to a fighter who'd hitherto never fought outside his home country and never fought for a world title has made the Hexecutioner despise defeat even more.
And he has been working very hard to ensure Canoy does not put another blemish on his record.
“It’s a going a tough fight,” Budler said after the pre-fight medical at the fight venue on Tuesday. “Filipinos always give a good fight and I’m sure this one is not going to be any different. It’s going to be a tough one.
“If you look at my record compared to his, I should have an advantage.”
Canoy has won 12 out of his 15 professional fights.
“But then again, this is boxing. You cannot afford to underestimate anybody going into a fight. All previous records and performances disappear when you step into that ring. You just have to perform, otherwise you might live to regret it.”
And regret is the one thing Budler wants to feel late on Saturday night. Not when he has his goals set on much higher goals.
“I want to be the world’s best junior-flyweight champion. I want to win all the titles that are on offer in the division.”
But Canoy says Budler can only dream: "“I’m more intimidated by Filipino boxers than Hekkie. I’m going to knock him out. That’s the plan. I missed out on an opportunity to win gold for my country at the Olympics, and now, this is my chance (to win something). I want to be a world champion, too.”