‘Nomeva’ to go for broke in Ghana tie
Fired-up fighter looks to reclaim IBO belt
XOLISANI “Nomeva” Ndongeni is now at a stage where he does not care which fight is offered to him as long as it will end his agonising inactivity.
The Duncan Village-bred boxer will now face Ghanaian Emmanuel Togoe on August 11 in Accra for the very same IBO title he dumped in the dustbin after promises that his career would take off in a big way.
The fight comes just when the charismatic boxer is still smarting from the disappointment of having his bout cancelled at the 11th hour a fortnight ago.
This when he was scheduled to face another Ghanaian boxer Razak Nettey in Cape Town in a Lizani Events tournament which was later cancelled due to the unavailability of funds.
Peeved by the setback, Ndongeni appealed to his promoter Rodney Berman to get him fights and Berman duly obliged when he slotted him into his scheduled July 23 show which was to feature Golden Gloves Promotion (GGP) prospects.
The opponent for him was to be his previous victim Patrick Malinga who Ndongeni credits as the toughest foe he had ever faced in his 22 bouts professional career.
However Berman has now since secured him a clash against Togoe in Ghana for the IBO lightweight title which Ndongeni originally won when he stopped Jasper Seroka in nine rounds in East London in 2015.
He never got an opportunity to defend the crown and when he signed a co-promotion agreement with top US promoter Art Pelullo he was advised to vacate his title with promises of being steered towards big fights in the land of dollar.
But Ndongeni has only fought once in US when he beat Mexican Juan Garcia Mendez last November.
Since then he has not seen action despite his incredible crowd-pulling ability.
He will have to contest for the title he relinquished but now under unfavourable condition as he will be required to go to Ghana. But the 27-year-old is beyond caring now. “All I want is to get into the ring and fight regardless of who I fight or what I am fighting for,” he said.
“The time of picking and choosing is no longer relevant if I want to save my career.”
Togoe won the title Ndongeni vacated when he sent Mzonke Fana to hospital after a points win in Accra in a fight that was supervised by East London official Andile Matika.
The reason to target Togoe is influenced by his respectable eighth ranking by the WBA although Ndongeni is two rugs above him.
Once beaten in 28 bouts with 13 stoppages, Tagoe has not really fought world-class opponents.