A ‘girlfriend’ with a stiff right hook

A Salt Rock resident has devoted his life to the art of boxing, which he says has kept him off the streets.
David Rajuili grew up in the Southern suburbs of Johannesburg and has been boxing since the age of nine. He clearly remembers being inspired when his mother woke him up one morning, sat him down in front of the TV and said, “I want you to watch this man, this is a great man.”
What he saw was a documentary called ‘The Brian Mitchell Story’, which detailed the South African boxer’s rise to stardom.
Rajuili started boxing the next day.
“Boxing has made me the man I am today,” he said.
Between the age of nine and 21, Rajuili fought 31 amateur fights, winning a staggering 21 of them.
He turned professional in 2010 and now 25, is currently ranked number 23 in the country in his division as a featherweight boxer.
A personal crisis almost derailed his career when he was 14 years old.
“I stopped boxing as a teenager when my mom died, and I was getting into a lot of fights on the street. But when I got back to boxing it kept me out of trouble. With boxing it is all or nothing, you have to eat right and live healthy.”
Rajuili said he hoped to be fighting for the world title some time in the next three or four years, but that this was not what motivated him.
“I want to fight in front of crowds of thousands of people and entertain them. I am all about putting on a good show. I want to become my own favourite boxer.”
Rajuili trains at Ringside boxing gym in Ballito almost every day. He is currently training for the KZN featherweight title fight on April 10. If he wins that, he will be the top boxer in KZN.
Rajuili is trained by his coach, Harley Milem and his fights are organised by his manager, Francois Botha.
In his spare time, when he is not teaching kids’ boxing classes at the gym, he said he enjoys fishing, and he comes across as passionate, with a friendly warmth and a calm determination.
When asked if he had a girlfriend, Rajuili laughed, “Boxing is my girlfriend! I have made it my number one love.”
If you want to get in touch with Rajuili for classes you can reach him on 071 739 5052.