Junior middleweight boxer Tristan Truter has taken his talents from the Hammer Gym in Boksburg to the Hot Box Gym in Johannesburg to join respected trainer Colin Nathan.
The move, which has seen Truter’s young brother Cayden following suit, arrived just hours following Tristan’s recent loss during Golden Gloves Promotions’ first event of the year against Roarke Knapp at Emperors Palace earlier this month. The result saw his record fall to 8-3, including five knockouts.
Like many boxers in the country, it was Truter’s first taste of competitive action in the squared circle since his last fight late last year against Boyd Allen – a fight he also lost in similar fashion in the Knapp loss, via TKO. It was a turn of events which prompted him to point to his defence, or rather lack thereof, a comment which pointed to the doorstep of his now former trainer, Harold Volbrecht.
“I didn’t have the right training, my defence wasn’t that great in the fight and I got caught with a good shot but big changes are going to be made soon,” he said at the time the Advertiser interviewed him following the loss.
In his latest comments, after the Advertiser asked him to explain the reasons behind the sudden move, Truter said: “We were in high school, now we’re moving up to college. My time there (Hammer Gym) has come to an end.”
On how he’s been settling at his new stable, he explained: “I love the environment, there are a lot of world champions here, I love the way he (Nathan) takes care of his boxers.
“I respect Harold Volbrecht completely. He’s a legend in the sport but the sport has evolved and if I want to improve, I have to evolve with it.”
When the Advertiser approached Volbrecht for his perspective, the boxing great and iconic trainer did not seem impressed.
“It’s his (Truter’s) choice, he has to be happy. A boxer needs to be happy because if you’re not happy, you won’t succeed. He has shown us that he’s not going to get to the top. Truter is one of those guys: he has to adjust his attitude.”
Meanwhile, Nathan has welcomed the Truter brothers to his stable.
“They are obviously still very young and I think they have a very bright future ahead of them,” he said.
“I love training young boxers because the process of training, nurturing them and watching them get better is what it’s all about.
“Why they left the Hammer Gym is none of my business and I don’t care. I’m not here for a popularity contest but to train boxers.”
Nathan is the youngest cornerman to be licensed by Boxing South Africa in the country’s boxing history; he was 12 years of age.
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