Xolisani Ndongeni leaves tonight for the US where he will be involved in a crucial 10 rounds boxing match which could decide if he still fits within the league of elite fighters.
Golden Boy Promotions matched him with highly-rated WBO Intercontinental junior welterweight champion Arnold Barboza Jr who is being given attention by promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins.
The Americans want to gauge the ability of their homeboy who is undefeated after 28 fights with 10 knockouts whose consistency has earned him a No 5 world rating by BoxRec.Com.
They needed a fighter who will test his character before they can begin to consider him for career building fights and Ndongeni – an awkward former IBO lightweight boxing champion – fitted that description.
Their boxing match will form part of Golden Boy Promotions tournament that will take place inside The Theatre at The Virgins Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 6.
All boxing matches in that card will stream live on DAZN which is a British over-the-top sports streaming and entertainment platform. DAZN broadcasts live and on-demand sport in over 200 countries worldwide.
In that tournament American former WBO International welterweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr will make his return but in a different weight class against Fredrick Lawson over 12-rounds.
The fight will mark Ortiz’s first fight in almost a year and a half. The fight against Lawson will mark his debut as a junior middleweight.
Lawson is originally from Accra in Ghana and now resides in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Ndongeni – the East Londoner who is based in Johannesburg – was once rated in the top five list of contenders for the WBA title.
He fell off the radar after his points loss to Devin Haney when they fought for the WBC International and WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title in 2019.
That fight, staged jointly by Devin Haney Promotions with Bishop Promotion at Shrevenport in the state of Louisiana in the USA, was to use Ndongeni to build the record of the American who had fought nobodies in his 19 winning streak.
Ndongeni gave his best but lost on points and Haney progressed to become the undisputed World champion after winning all the belts available in that weight class.
Ndongeni’s top rating disappeared like snow in the sun after the defeat. What made it even worse was his fifth-round knockout loss to unheralded journeyman “Prince” Dlomo in 2020.
Ndongeni bounced back to chalk wins against fringe opponents and that is illustrated by his No 60 in the World by BoxRec.Com.
Victory against Barboza will reinstall him as an elite fighter, improve his rating and perhaps open doors for bigger and better fights with good purse monies for him internationally.
At 33 time is against him but his advantage of being a clean-living fighter who is a gym worm with or without a fight could also keep him active for even longer period because he has not taken severe punishment.
He will jet off alone. His trainer Mzamo Njekanye from Duncan Village near East London will join in him next week.
In Johannesburg where he lives with his family, Ndongeni is trained by Hisham Mayet. Njekanye usually joins the boxer few days before a fight.
Ndongeni also has a strength and conditioning trainer – Phelo Mfini – a Johannesburg based former body-builder from the Eastern Cape.
“I will spend three days in Miami and leave for Las Vegas on January 2,” Ndongeni said adding that his preparations went well at Apex Boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym of Boyd Allen in Sandton.
“I trained hard the whole of December - Kaine Fourie, Boyd Allen and Almighty Moyo had been assisting me in the gym,” said Ndongeni.
“I am ready for the fight in all aspects.” He will wrap up his preparations in Miami.
He described Barboza as a good boxer with average power.
“There is nothing he will do that will shock me - I will handle everything that he will do and that is because he's got nothing special,” said Ndongeni.
“In terms of skills I can take him on because I believe I can box when need arises; I can also fight when I must fight.” Ndongeni said the purse money he will be paid for that boxing match is decent.
“The most important thing for me about this fight really is the stage or platform that will I will be appearing at – Golden Boy Promotion and also appear on DAZN,” he said.
“That is a big opportunity for me and that is why I intend to give my best show.”
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