'Die Bek' shows he has heart...
2006-10-26 23:21
Eagan Williamson
Pretoria - "Die Bek van Boomstraat" does not forget his friends - he supports them through thick and thin.
So says Kallie Knoetze, legendary South African heavyweight boxer of a few decades back.
He was a sportswriter's dream because of his big mouth, spouting vociferous comment on how he was going to "maul" his opponent before the big fight.
Kallie was sitting next to the hospital bed of his close friend, big Mike Schutte, a heavyweight legend in his own right, in and out of the ring, but now in Pretoria Academic Hospital for a heart condition.
Kallie paid a fleeting visit on Thursday to his old friend , who will leave the hospital just for the weekend to visit family in Vanderbijlpark.
Kallie made fun of Mike: "Gee, just see how much weight he has lost."
Mike said the old ticker apparently had become a little unfit.
Got a huge fright
"I always believed in doing everything at full tilt - boxing, fighting? and drinking, even harder.
"But now, with old-age approaching, all these things have caught up with me.
"I realise I will have to change my ways - I got a huge fright and I know I will have to watch my lifestyle," said the ring veteran.
Earlier this week, Kallie took a load of fruit from his roadside stall north of Pretoria to Mike's bedside.
"Die Bek" reckons his own health is still "tops, except for the nose that acts up now and again after Mike last thumped me, some years ago".
Kallie said: "Today people tend to forget their friends.
"I don't believe in making a show of saying my prayers in public, but I came to Mike's bedside and prayed for my old friend ... and I believe his condition will improve."
The two ex-boxers reminisced about days gone by, their time as boxing idols and Kallie being a contender for the world heavyweight title.
Kallie said: "Today's laaities don't know nothing; they're too weak in the knees. Mike and I would have cut them down for the count in the early rounds in our heyday."
Each joke a winner
Asked what they considered was the best Mike-and-Kallie joke to do the rounds, both laughed heartily.
"What do you mean?
"There isn't a best one.
"Each one was the best.
"And, remember, each of them was the honest truth," chuckled Mike.
And, that's from the horse's "Bek".
- Beeld