By Malibongwe Tokwe
Maliboxing blog is bringing you the interview of the former champion of the world from the origins of Malamulele in South Africa,
Cassius “Shy Guy / Hitman” Baloyi
Cassius Baloyi is the only fighter from South Africa to ever win the world amateur championships.
He is the first South African World Champion to ever win three titles in three weight divisions.
He holds the record of 46 fights with only 8 losses and 1 draw in the professional career of 18 years.
Cassius Baloyi is…
- The former WBU Super Bantamweight champion of the world
- The former WBU Featherweight Champion of the world
- The former IBO Super Featherweight Champion of the world
- The former IBF Super Featherweight Champion of the world
Maliboxing blog is determined to go the extra mile just for you to hear about the life stories of great champions we produced in our mother land, South Africa. We refuse not to celebrate the lives of the champions when they are no more…
Cassius was introduced to boxing at an early age of eight by his father Eric Baloyi who is currently still involved in amateur boxing of Malamulele.
The champion told us, “no man on earth loves boxing like my father”
“When he goes to sleep, he dreams about boxing” he proclaimed.
The champ was in positive spirits in his gym, laughing with his boxing students, you could easily see that he is a happily retired boxer.
For the very first time, Cassius talks about his disappointments on how he never get the official recognition for being the only South African fighter to win the Amateur World Championship title. “I went to Germany in Berlin and fought under difficult conditions and still won the title, however I did not get any recognition or whatsoever”
The champ even go further and share how he was pulled out of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics games, “I was very upset when they told me I could go, but not participate due to late entries, I was the armature champion of the world, I should have been given the opportunity, my original goal of boxing was to be the Olympics champion” he said those words with deep emotions in his eyes.
The man who loves his family talks about the great South African fight of the year he had with Phillip “The Time Bomb” Ndou, “I am happy with the decision of that fight, Phillip won that fight in my point of view”.
The mood changes when the champ shares the story of the hijack incident that occurred in Johannesburg on 2001, when he was shot while he was with his friends in Braamfontein. He tells the story in details and even share how the incident affected his boxing career.
Now he is giving boxing lessons at 147 Webber Street, Sandton, the Champ is inviting all those that would like to train boxing for fitness or just for the love of the sport, to join him at his gym, “we train clients at affordable prices, you get the time to train with me, I even spar with my clients for them to learn the sport of boxing”.
He is also training few young fighters from Alexandria in Johannesburg, and he believes that is another way to give back to the people who supported him. He is everything to those kids he train, the father, the friend and the mentor at the same time, “they are my friends, I am trying to mentor them to be great men of their families”
Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy the interview with the champ Cassius Baloyi.
Part 1
Part 2
maliboxing.com 