Durban - Like all good security officers, Joshua Pretorius did just what he had set out to do – arrest and strip Cape Town’s Juan Roux of his South African and African Boxing Union heavyweight titles on the Golden Gloves bill at the Emperors Palace in Johannesburg last week.
Pretorius, who runs his own security company from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, lured Roux into a trap and unleashed his game plan in a telling fashion to record a 12-round unanimous points victory and take the belts that he so desperately wanted.
It was the second time in his short professional career he had gone the 12-round distance in the heavyweight division.
“I’ve been eyeing those titles for a while now and when I was offered the fight I jumped to it. It was an opportunity I could not pass up,” Pretorius said.
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The win took his professional record to six fights, five wins and one points defeat to Tian Fick for the SA heavyweight title in December 2020 in Cape Town.
It was Roux’s first title defence since winning the title in December 2021 when he beat Fick on a split points decision over 12 rounds in Cape Town.
The bout between Roux and Pretorius was one-sided as the judges scored it as follows: Eric Khoza 118-112, Ben Ncapayi 118-110, Namhla Tyuluba 116-112 – all in favour of Pretorius.
Pretorius admitted that he had little trouble fending off Roux and became more comfortable as the fight wore on.
However he was quick to add that he would not take all the credit for how he fought on the night.
“It was a well planned strategy and my dad Corrie, trainer John Tshabalala and manager Patrick Bonyeme must be credited for my win. They were very precise in the run-up to the fight and in training I did just what was asked of me,” said Pretorius.
“We had studied a number of his videos and saw that he was a come-forward fighter but his pace was slow. I was told to lure him onto the ropes and bounce him off and score with my jabs.
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“The plan worked so beautifully. For the first four or five rounds Juan was giving it a full go but then he began getting slower and slower. I targeted his belly and by the fifth and sixth rounds he was so slow that my jabs proved effective and it led to me winning the fight.”
Pretorius was overjoyed with his win but said that he still has a long way to go before taking on stronger overseas opponents.
“There are moves to get me into the ring again shortly but we need to sit down – my management team and Rodney Berman (promoter) – to map a way forward,” the new South African and African Boxing Union heavyweight champion said.
Golden Gloves have started planning their next tournament and it is likely that Pretorius will feature as one of the two main bouts on the bill.
“The plan is to defend my title as many times as possible,” the upbeat Pretorius said from Richards Bay on Friday.
“If I want to be a better heavyweight and improve with time I’ve got to be in the ring as often as possible. I’m the champion and must be seen to be fighting all the time.”
IOL sport