Sabelo Ndwandwe is set on winning the Gauteng junior featherweight title as a show of appreciation to his mother and trainers Mthobisi Buthelezi and Duho Kim.
“These people saved my life by getting me out of drugs; I owe them big time,” said the 22-year-old, whose three consecutive wins earned him the chance to challenge for the vacant Gauteng belt.
These people saved my life by getting me out of drugs; I owe them big time.
— Sabelo Ndwandwe
Ndwandwe from Diepsloot in northern Johannesburg and Joburg-based Khotso Ramabolu from the Free State will compete for the vacant belt on March 15.
Their scheduled 10-round bout at the Kagiso Memorial and Recreation Centre will be the main contest in the development tournament promoted by Mellisa Miller, the retired SA and ABU Southern African Development Community bantamweight champ.
Ndwandwe wants to be rated nationally, so winning the Gauteng belt will be a step in that direction.
He has not seen Ramabolu in action. “I don’t undermine him; I have never undermined anyone, but one thing is certain — I will give it my all.”
Ramabolu is the son of retired WBF International and IBF Africa junior middleweight champ, Frans Ramabolu, from Virginia in the Free State.
Ndwandwe said “peer pressure” got him hooked on drugs, and he dropped out of school in grade 10.
“My mother [Nozipho] went through some rough times with me. She threw me out of the house, but like any parent, she gave me a second chance on condition that I join Mthobisi.”
Mthobisi “Terminator” Buthelezi is a former pro boxer who lives in Diepsloot and co-owns the Pound for Pound Gym in Dainfern with Kim, a former boxer and mixed martial arts fighter nicknamed “Kamikaze”.
They train clients in both boxing and martial arts.
“Luckily, Mthobisi was my idol; I used to open the gate for him, and he would give me coins,” said Ndwandwe. “So I joined him and Duho; they saved my life.”
Ndwandwe said winning the Gauteng title will bring him closer to his mother and also make his manager, Derick Weimer, realise that he’s banking on a winner.
