Corrie Sanders

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Statistics
Corrie Sanders
Real name	Cornelius Johannes Sanders
Nickname	The Sniper
Weight	Heavyweight
Nationality	South African
Birth date	January 7, 1966
Birth place	Pretoria, South Africa
Style	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	44
Wins	41
Wins by KO	31
Losses	3
Draws	0
No contests	0

Cornelius Johannes Sanders (born on January 7, 1966 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a South African boxer. Known for his fast hands and devastating left, Sanders is the third boxer from the African continent to become world Heavyweight champion, after fellow countrymen Gerrie Coetzee and Francois Botha.

1 Professional Career
2 Winning the Title against Klitschko
3 Losing a Title shot against Klitschko
4 Retirement
5 Comeback
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Professional Career

Sanders began his boxing career with a first round knockout of King Kong Dyubele on April 2, 1989.

He won his first 23 bouts, 15 by knockout. Among the fighters he defeated during that streak were Steve Zouski, Art Card, future WBO world Cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson and future world title challenger Bert Cooper.

In his 24th bout, on May 21 of 1994, he suffered his first defeat, at the hands of 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 Leon and a second round knockout over another former world champion, Bobby Czyz. A stoppage loss to future heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman in a bout Sanders was winning confirmed his ability and also his vulnerability. 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.

[edit] Winning the Title against Klitschko

Despite the fact that he had fought only three rounds in the last two years, the WBO sanctioned a challenge to their heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Speculation had been rife in the boxing world (boxing magazines, shows, etc) that a unification bout between Klitschko and WBC world champion Lennox Lewis was being planned. However, on March 8 of 2003, Sanders provided a stunning upset in Hanover, Germany by dropping Klitschko four times to snatch the Ukrainian's belt in a stunning second round knockout.

With this win, Sanders joined Coetzee and Botha in the list of African world heavyweight champions.

In December of 2003, a rumour circulated that Sanders had lost an eight round bout by decision in South Africa. As it turned out it was another fighter with a similar name American heavyweight Corey Sanders, who had participated in the fight.

[edit] Losing a Title shot against Klitschko

Sanders vacated the WBO title in December 2003 so that he could concentrate on a challenge for the vacant WBC belt. The fight took place on April 24 of 2004, against Wladimir's older brother, Vitali. He was stopped by Vitali in the eighth round of a one-sided fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Sanders was considerably slower than the trim Klitschko and failed to land any significant blows throughout the fight.

Following the defeat to Klitschko he signed an agreement to box for Germany's Universum Box-Promotion. So far he has boxed once for the Hamburg based outfit, knocking out Alexei Varakin in the second round of a contest in Soelden, Austria, in December 2004.

[edit] Retirement

He retired due to a back injury after defeating Varakin, having compiled a record of 40 wins and 3 losses with 30 wins via knockout. He remains one of the most under-celebrated heavyweights of our era.

[edit] Comeback

Sanders returned to action after two years in November of 2006 to score a second round stoppage win over the Australian heavyweight champion Colin Wilson at the Convention Centre in Mmbatho. In the second round the southpaw Sanders began to score with some big shots to the body of the 34-year-old Australian heavyweight champion and midway through the round a big southpaw left to the body dropped Wilson, who was in no condition to continue as the referee stepped in to call the fight off.

He has recently signed with Golden Gloves Promotions and is planned to make his next comeback fight 5 May. If it goes well, he will fight in the US in the summer to set up a rematch with anyone of the Klitschkos or a shot at a title belt. Experts judge him to be competitive against all of the current champions and contenders.