Legendary South African boxing trainer Nick Durandt, who has five of the country's proclaimed world champions under his charge, says the interests of the fighters comes first in deciding relationships with a conglomerate of divided promoters.
“If the offer is to the benefit of one of my boxers and there are no contractual obstacles, I'll take on the fight and not be swayed by any personal relationships or obstacles,” Durandt said on Friday.
Durandt revealed this a day after the announcement that he would be handling the preparation of Daniel Bruwer for the Golden Gloves Super8 cruiserweight tournament at Emperors Palace next month.
The tournament will be the first time he makes an appearance at an event promoted by Rodney Berman in years.
At one time close associates, Berman and Durandt had a publicised bust-up more than two years ago and have had no dealings with each other in any tournament since.
“Bruwer approached me in connection with the Super8 tournament and asked me to train him for the event,” Durandt said.
“This was relayed to Rodney and we have both accepted the arrangement.
“Whether this will lead to anything else regarding my fighters, only time will tell, but at least we are on speaking terms again.”
Durandt, however, made it clear it would not affect his relationships with other promotional organisations.
He believed it was time for rival promoters to assist each other in presenting their tournaments for the welfare of SA boxing in general.
“In the meantime,” he said, “we'll look at all offers from each and every promotional body and weigh them up on merit.” – Sapa