Hekkie Budler vacates IBF title after paltry purse bid

South Africa’s Hekkie Budler secured the IBF and WBA “Super” junior flyweight titles in May with a close decision over Ryoichi Taguchi in Tokyo. His first obligation as unified champion would have pitted him against IBF mandatory Felix Alvarado, but after the purse bid resulted in just $25,000 total, he has elected to drop that belt rather than face the Nicaraguan puncher for relative peanuts.

The 75-25 split would have netted him a measly $18,750 for a unified title fight against a dangerous, relatively unknown fighter. That’s UFC money right there.

The IBF has ordered Alvarado (33-2, 29 KO) to face #3 Randy Petalcorin for the vacant title. They have until Friday to confirm whether they are “available.”

Budler (32-3, 10 KO) still holds his WBA belt. Unbeaten Carlos Canizales (21-0-1, 17 KO) holds the regular version, which he defended this month with a 12th-round stoppage of Lu Bin. There’s also #1 contender Tetsuya Hisada, WBC champ Ken Shiro, and WBO champ Angel Acosta to consider, so there’s no shortage of solid opposition out there for him.