Corrie Sanders 'died a hero'
2012-09-23 14:38
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Johannesburg - The ex-wife of shot SA boxing
champion Corrie Sanders saw him being shot by robbers and described the night
to Eyewitness News.
Sunette
Sanders said robbers came into the Thatch Haven restaurant in Brits on Saturday
night and started kicking and slapping people.
Sanders and
her ex were attending the 21st birthday party of a nephew.
She became
emotional when she told how Corrie dove to protect his daughter when shots were
fired.
“I think he
died a hero. He was just protecting his girl because they were shooting.”
Sanders was
shot twice, in the arm and stomach.
News of his
death has shocked the country and tributes and condolences have been streaming
in.
'The Sniper'
Sanders, nicknamed "The Sniper" in his fighting days, was one of
South Africa's most successful boxers on the global stage, winning the
WBO title and holding his own against some of the most respected boxers
in the world.
The heavyweight southpaw, trained by Harold Volbrecht, fought 46 times in his career, losing only four bouts.
He
got off to a great start as a professional, making a name for himself
when he won his first 23 fights on the trot in the early 1990's before
he was stopped in the second round by Nate Tubbs in his first defeat.
Sanders
made his first real breakthrough in May 2000, and while he lost to
Hasim Rahman in a seventh-round knockout, the South African had dropped
the American as early as the first round, proving his ability in the
heavyweight ranks.
"I've never been hit like that in my life,"
said Rahman, who would go on to beat Lennox Lewis the following year for
the WBC, IBO and IBF titles.
After considering retirement, and
winning a couple more bouts, Sanders accepted a late invitation in March
2003, at the age of 37, to fight Wladimir Klitschko, and he stopped the
Unkrainian in the second round to lift the WBO crown.
Having
relinquished the title, after Lewis announced his retirement and Sanders
struggled to find a worthy opponent, the South African, now the number
one challenger for the WBC belt, went up against Klitschko's older
brother, Vitali, and held him off in a gutsy display for eight rounds
before he was knocked out.
He retired in 2008, after going down
to fellow South African Osborne Machimana in his last contest in the
ring, and Sanders, a successful businessman, became a keen golfer after
hanging up his gloves.
