After seeing Landile “Mandown” Ngxeke hard at work at the Hot Box Gym, posting several images, clips, and training footage, fight fans were wondering when his date with destiny would take place.
After defecting from East London to sign with manager Colin “Nomakanjani” Nathan, director of No Doubt management in Johannesburg, it was announced that he had received an order from the IBF to contest for the vacant world bantamweight championship against Mexico’s Jose Salas “El Chapulin” Reyes after Junto "Big Bang" Nakatani of Japan vacated the title.
On the 13th, the IBF world title belt must be wrapped around my waist; I’m ready.
— Landile “Mandown” Ngxeke
Ngxeke accepted the order, and now the date — December 13 — has been signed and sealed.
“‘Mandown’ is ready to announce himself to the world,“ said Nathan.
“We have known about the date for a while; that’s why we have been hard at work preparing,” said Nathan.
“There was a bit of back and forth with the agreement, but now I have a deal for Landile, and he is extremely happy with the terms,” he said, adding his thanks to Larry Wainstein of Boxing 5 “for all his support”.
Mexico City has been confirmed as the fight venue, although Bxstrs Promotions has said it could shift to another province in the country.
Ngxeke couldn’t hide his excitement: “I woke up this morning and saw the post, and I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s happening’.
“On the 13th, the IBF world title belt must be wrapped around my waist; I’m ready.”
Mexico is a happy hunting ground for Nathan, as he has scored major upset wins there with Hekkie “Hexecutioner” Budler and Sivenathi “The Special One” Nontshinga and is looking to extend his unbeaten winning streak.
Sowetan
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