President Thabo Mbeki has conveyed his good wishes to
boxing heavyweight Corrie Sanders on his WBC
world title encounter against Vitali Klitschko in Los Angeles, United States,
tomorrow night.
In a letter sent to
Sanders, President Mbeki said the whole nation was confident that he (Sanders)
would bring pride to the South African flag.
"As one of our
outstanding ambassadors in the boxing fraternity, we are confident that you
will bring pride to the South African flag and glory to our wonderful country
at a time that we are celebrating a decade of freedom," he said.
President Mbeki added
that sport remained an important pillar of nation building in the country's
young democracy and Sanders' contribution in the boxing rings of the world was
a further building block in that process.
Billed as one of the greatest boxing bouts involving a
South African, a win against the Ukrainian would document Sanders as the first
South African to don a WBC heavyweight belt.
In March last year in Hanover, Sanders - a southpaw-
outwitted and literally outboxed Vitali's younger brother Vladimir in the
second round of their WBO heavyweight championship after the latter had kissed
the canvass four times.
Sanders had to relinquish the title to get a shot at the
most coveted WBC crown.
"We look forward to
your home coming as the champion of the world," said President Mbeki
Issued by: GCIS (Government Communication and Information System)-
BuaNews
