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After two decades in the ring, Germany-based South African boxer David Rajuili is hanging up his gloves to help aspiring local fighters get fight opportunities in Europe.
Nicknamed “Dangerous Darkie”, Rajuili left these shores five years ago to pursue his boxing career abroad.
This was after he impressed international boxing trainer Sean Krool during his WBF All Africa lightweight contest in Cape Town in 2018.
Krool signed the fighter from Meadowlands, Soweto, under his stable, Fight Factory, in Manchester, UK, in 2018.
According to Rajuili, the lack of fighting opportunities in South Africa prompted him to travel abroad to get more action.
Now the lanky fighter is keen to help his compatriots who find themselves in a similar situation.
READ: SA pro boxers juggle fights with day jobs
Before he assumes the task of helping aspiring local boxers get a breakthrough to the European fight scene, Rajuili has one more assignment.
The 34-year-old is set to hang up his boxing gloves after his clash with Anthony Yigit in October in Denmark.
Speaking to City Press this week, Rajuili admitted that leaving the ring is one of the biggest and most difficult decisions to make.
He reflected on his career: “It has been a good journey over all those years. [Retirement] is a very difficult and hard decision to make as I have been in boxing for the past 23 years.
“I have worked with some amazing trainers throughout my boxing career including the local boxing legend Mzonke Fana.
“I have captured WBF titles in two divisions.
“I guess this is the right time for me to go, a good dancer knows when to leave the stage.
“I will channel my energy on helping up and coming youngsters and help South African fighters get fight opportunities in Europe through the contacts I have made in all these years.”
It was not easy for Rajuili to endear himself to hard-to-impress international boxing fans and the boxing promoters in Europe.
His life in a foreign land was punctuated by hard knocks and sacrifice.
“Every fighter has a list of obstacles that they have to overcome on the path to success.
READ: SA pro boxers juggle fights with day jobs
“I have faced so many challenges on my quest to take my boxing career to the next level. Just imagine being in a foreign country with no sponsorship or management team. My wife, who is a pillar of my strength, did not give up on me as she continues to give me support,” said Rajuili.
He continued: “In my case, I was training three to four times a day. By then, I had no job so I was literally staying at the gym, doing everything there. I had to sleep at the gym. I lost touch with the outside world because family and friends were back home in South Africa. I lost a lot of family time, my wife was pregnant with our first child and I missed a lot of that because of being in the gym. At some point, she came to join me at the gym so that we could be together.”
According to Rajuili, the gym was a two-hour train ride from where he was based in Karlsruhe, a city in southwestern Germany.
The gym had rooms to accommodate international boxers, he recalled.
“I was sharing with fighters from Denmark, Poland and around Germany.”
