Meet Mr Done-it-All

Boxer, trainer, manager and promoter... Reggie Hilman has truly done it all.

Actually, his name is Reggie Hilmer, but because of a registration error he became stuck with the surname Hilman.

Born in Johannesburg in April 1948, Reggie started taking an interest in boxing when he was 14 years old. As an amateur he was trained by Theo Mthembu, who later took Baby Jake Matlala to four world titles.

Mthembu guided the young southpaw to Johannesburg and Transvaal lightweight titles before Hilmer made his professional debut in June 1971.

He faced some of the top lightweights of the time. One of them was Norman “Pangaman” Sekgapane, who later won the SA lightweight and junior welterweight titles.

Another of Hilmer’s opponents was Nkosana “Happyboy” Mgxaji, who had more than 100 fights and held the SA junior lightweight and junior welterweight titles.

In possibly his best performance as a professional, Hilmer fought Petrus Shole Mokoena, a one-time SA featherweight champion, for the vacant Transvaal lightweight title in July 1973. He lost on points over ten rounds.

But after one more fight he had to give up boxing because of a recurring shoulder injury.

Hilmer soon became involved in the training and managing of fighters and helped Kirk Morris to become the Transvaal junior flyweight champion. Morris also challenged for the SA title.

Yoonus Patel, a promising junior lightweight, and Quinton Ryan, who won the SA junior lightweight title, also operated under the guidance of Hilmer.

Unlike some other former boxers, Hilmer worked hard to stay in shape. Working out with weights for many years, he maintained a figure that belied his years.

In 1989, he obtained a promoter’s licence and soon put together some good shows under the banner of Future Promotions. As a boxing correspondent, I never attended a substandard tournament at the Don Mateman Hall in Eldorado Park, where Hilmer operated for several years.

In 1992, he received the Dick de Villiers award at the King Korn/Boxing World ceremony for his contribution to boxing.

Hilmer is still active in boxing but as a result of the slump in local boxing he only sporadically presents tournaments.