Johannesburg – The three men sentenced in the North Gauteng High Court Pretoria for killing former world heavyweight boxing champion Corrie Sanders during an armed robbery will apply for leave to appeal, the SABC reported on Wednesday.

Judge Ferdi Preller on Wednesday sentenced Paida Fish, Chris Moyo and Samuel Mabena, all in their 20s, to 18 years imprisonment for murdering Sanders.

They were sentenced to 19 years for armed robbery and a further six years for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Preller ordered that some of the sentences run concurrently, giving a sentence of in effect 30 years for each of the three men. They are all first offenders.

Sanders, 46, was shot during an armed robbery at the Thatch Haven Country Lodge outside Brits while attending his nephew’s 21st birthday party on 22 September 2012.

He died the next day in the Kalafong Hospital.