Ikgopoleng, the reluctant boxer who rose to the top

Growing up in the hills of Lobatse, the young Ikgopoleng never thought about wearing the leather gloves, let alone conquering the boxing world.  

He grew up as a boy with weight issues and his friends used to tease him about it. He became determined to shed some of the weight. “I used to see the likes of (boxer) Gilbert Khunwane running up and down the hills of Lobatse back in 1996.  So I became motivated and decided to join them and I ended up becoming part of their gym.  This was just a way of losing weight, nothing else,” he said with a chuckle.