* Sanders shot in arm, stomach by robbers
* He won WBO heavyweight title with 2003 knockout
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 23 (Reuters) – South African former world
heavyweight boxing champion Cornelius “Corrie” Sanders died on
Sunday after being shot by armed robbers who burst into his
nephew’s 21st birthday party, the South African Broadcasting
Corporation reported.
Sanders, 46, was hit in the arm and the stomach when the
robbers raided a restaurant outside the town of Brits in North
West Province where he and other family members were attending
the party, the SABC said on its website.
He was rushed to hospital but died from his wounds in the
early hours of Sunday.
“Three guys walked in and then started shooting
-unfortunately Corrie Sanders was wounded in that shooting – and
they stole some purses, cellphones and car keys from other
people,” Johan de Jager, owner of the Thatch Haven Country Lodge
restaurant, told the SABC.
Sanders, nicknamed “The Sniper” because of his fierce left,
won the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title in 2003 with
a surprise knockout of Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko.
Out of his 46 professional fights, he lost only four.
Tributes poured in on Sunday from admirers and fellow sports
stars. “He was just a fantastic sportsman,” former South African
rugby captain Naas Botha told eNews Channel Africa.
Police were searching for the robbers.
(Reporting By Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Ralph Gowling)
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