Cornelius Johannes Sanders (7 January 1966 – 23 September 2012) was a South African
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, which was considered one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing history; ''The Ring'' magazine named it the Upset of the Year. In 2004, having vacated the WBO title, Sanders faced Wladimir's brother
Vitali Klitschko
Vitalii Volodymyrovych Klychko (; ; born 19 July 1971), known as Vitali Klitschko, is a Ukrainian politician and former professional boxer. He serves as mayor of Kyiv,WBC and ''Ring'' heavyweight titles. He also held the WBU heavyweight title from 1997 until 2000 and the South Africa national heavyweight title in 1991.
Nicknamed "The Sniper", Sanders was a southpaw with a long reach, and was known for carrying formidable
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
power in his straight left hand. He died in a hospital in the early hours of 23 September 2012 after being shot during an armed robbery. Sanders also held wins against former cruiserweight champions Johnny Nelson, Carlos de Leon, Bobby Czyz, and Al Cole.
Early life and amateur career
Sanders grew up in Brits, South Africa. He had two siblings and was of
Afrikaner
Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
, and
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
. Having been introduced to boxing by his uncle, Sanders finished his
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. Retrieved 1 July 2017. He won the amateur South African heavyweight title four times from 1985-1988.
Professional career
Sanders made his professional debut in 1989 with a first-round
knockout
A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
of King Kong Dyubele on 2 April 1989. He went on to win his next 22 bouts, 14 by knockout. Among the fighters he defeated during that streak were Steve Zouski, Art Card, future WBO cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, and future world title challenger Bert Cooper. In his 24th bout, on 21 May 1994, Sanders suffered his first defeat, to Nate Tubbs via a second-round knockout.
He fought 12 more times over the next five years, including a first-round knockout over former world cruiserweight champion Carlos De León and a second-round knockout over another former world champion, Bobby Czyz. He lost by seventh-round stoppage in a slugfest fight with future unified and two-time world
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...
champion Hasim Rahman. Sanders and Rahman both knocked each other down during the bout, and Sanders was ahead on the judges' scorecards prior to the stoppage. Rahman said of Sanders following their match: "I've never been hit that hard in my life." Returning to the ring in 2001, he scored a quick win over Michael Sprott and then followed this up with a defeat of Otis Tisdale in 2002. Corrie Sanders' biggest weapons were his southpaw fast hands that he used to knock fighters out early.
WBO heavyweight champion
Despite fighting three rounds in the last two years, the WBO sanctioned a challenge to their heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Sanders had accepted the bout on short notice and was a 40-1 underdog. On 8 March 2003, Sanders provided a stunning upset in
Hanover
Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, by dropping Klitschko four times to win the WBO belt by a second-round knockout. ''The Ring'' magazine named it the Upset of the Year for 2003. Klitschko later called Sanders the hardest puncher he ever faced in a December 2014 interview with ''The Ring'', saying: "I’ve been in boxing for 25 years and I never fought anybody in this game that punched like Corrie Sanders."
WBC heavyweight title challenge
Sanders had initially sought a unification bout with WBA heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr., who had also won his title in March 2003, and then with heavyweight contender David Tua. When those negotiations fell through, he was scheduled to defend the WBO title against Lamon Brewster on 18 October 2003. However, due to a conflict between WBO and Sanders's promoter, the bout did not take place. Sanders then vacated the WBO title to sign a contract to fight for the vacant WBC belt. The fight took place on 24 April 2004, against Wladimir's older brother, Vitali. Sanders was stopped by Vitali in the eighth round of the fight in the
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. After Sanders death, Vitali went on to pay his respects to Sanders and called this the hardest fight of his career.
Eight months later, Sanders knocked out Alexei Varakin in the second round of a contest in Soelden,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in December 2004. He briefly retired after that bout.
Sanders returned to action after two years in November 2006 to score a second round stoppage win over the Australian heavyweight champion Colin Wilson at the Convention Centre in
Mafikeng
Mahikeng ( Tswana for "Place of Rocks"), formerly known as Mafikeng and alternatively known as Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa.
Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast ...
. He had signed with Golden Gloves Promotions, and won another bout in South Africa against Brazilian Daniel Bispo in May 2007. His last bout, of the South African heavyweight title, was a loss to Osborne Machimana, a bout he took despite Sanders being injured beforehand. Sanders' final record was 42 wins (31 by knockout) and 4 losses.
Personal life
Corrie Sanders and his wife Suzette had a son and a daughter.
Death
On 22 September 2012, Sanders was fatally shot in an armed robbery at a restaurant called Thatch Haven in Brits, South Africa, where a function was being held for his nephew's 21st birthday. He had been near the entrance of the restaurant talking to his 15-year-old daughter Marinique and a cousin when three robbers entered firing their guns. Sanders had used his body to shield his daughter from oncoming bullets and then, while bleeding from bullet wounds in his right arm and stomach, pulled her to the ground and whispered for her to pretend to be dead. Sanders was taken to a hospital in
Pretoria
Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country.
Pretoria strad ...
, where he died in the early hours of 23 September 2012 of his wounds.
On 27 September 2012, following a tip-off, North West police arrested three men in Oukasie near Brits, charging them with the murder of Sanders. All three were citizens of
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
. At one address, two suspects were apprehended and police recovered a cellular phone, a vehicle key, a purse and cash stolen during the robbery. Police then went to a second address, arrested a third suspect, and recovered a handbag also stolen in the robbery. The trial was postponed until August 2013 as investigators attempted to use a fourth suspect, now serving a 30-year sentence in Zimbabwe for killing a police officer, to locate the gun used in the crime.
On 11 February 2015 at a High Court in Pretoria, Judge Ferdi Preller sentenced Paida Fish, Chris Moyo and Samuel Mabena each to 43 years' imprisonment, of which they have to serve 30, on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...