Palace winner may face Mosley
Kaizer Mabuza and Chris van Heerden will fight for more than the IBO welterweight title when they meet on September 24.
The winner may get a fight against Shane Mosley.
Golden Gloves promoter Rodney Berman said on Tuesday he was confident of geting a boxer of international stature to fight the winner of the main bout at Emperors Palace.
Speaking at the announcement of the bill for the tournament, Berman mentioned the possibility of a match-up between the winner and American "Sugar" Shane Mosley, who has won world titles in three different weight classes.
"I am close with Shane after we promoted his fights against Oscar de la Hoya," Berman said. "I am confident that, after this fight, if I feel the time is right, I will be able to approach someone of his ability to face either of these guys.
"I believe either of them can challenge anyone in the world in this division."
Mabuza and Van Heerden traded the first few verbal jabs in the build-up to their clash for the vacant world title.
"The underdog tag is good. I like it because it brings the best out of me,” Van Heerden said. "I'm going to use Kaizer to make a name for myself.
"There is no stopping 'The Heat' and I will be the IBO champion."
On the undercard, Hekkie Budler will fight Michael Landero of the Philippines for the IBO minimumweight belt.
Budler's trainer, Colin Nathan, said he was confident his fighter, a former IBO junior flyweight champion, would win another world title after dropping a weight division.
“We think this is his natural weight and we've found he is quicker and stronger,” Nathan said. “We're expecting a tough fight but we believe Hekkie will be a two-time champion.”
