‘Nomeva’ ready to pull no punches
Unfazed by top trainer’s absence
THE absence of his trainer Colin Nathan will not deter Xolisani “Nomeva” Ndongeni from producing his best performance when he faces Tanzanian Emilio Norfat in a lightweight non-title clash at Orient Theatre on Friday.
Ndongeni will return to the happy hunting ground of Orient Theatre where he has graduated from an unheralded technically flawed boxer to a world title while still based in Duncan Village under the tutelage of Chief Njekanye.
Now he is one of the brightest boxing stars with his exploits having attracted Johannesburg promoter Rodney Berman and trainer Nathan at whose gymnasium he is now training.
However, Berman has consistently leased him out to Andile Sidinile whose Sijuta Promotions will stage the fight.
Having fought in Johannesburg once when he struggled to beat evergreen Mzonke Fana, Ndongeni is now using Orient Theatre as his staple boxing food.
But this time Nathan, who took the blame for the indifference performance against Fana, will not be barking instructions in the corner.
Nathan had opted to accompany his other charge Ryno Liebenberg to Sweden where he will engage in an international light-heavyweight title clash against unbeaten Erik Skoglund on Saturday.
This will leave Ndongeni under the guidance of Nathan’s assistant trainer Vusi Mtolo.
But Nomeva is unfazed by the arrangement saying he was in full support of Nathan’s decision to decide to man Liebenberg’s corner.
“We work as a team at HotBox gym [Nathan’s gymnasium], so if we are fighting at the same time we take a decision about where Colin will be for all of us,” he said. “Vusi is equally capable of manning my corner so there will be no hassle here.”
Ndongeni added that he will not be the only one missing Nathan in his corner on Friday.
“For instance, Alfonso Tussen who fights Bushby [Giovanni] in the same show on Friday is my stablemate so he will depend on Mtolo also. DeeJay Kriel, who will fight on Sunday at Emperors Palace, will also go to war with Mtolo so you can see that this will not affect me alone.”
Ndongeni denied that Nathan had opted to go with Liebenberg because his camp was underestimating Norfat.
Meanwhile, two of Mdantsane boxing prospects Thulani Mbenge and Ludumo Lamati will return home to feature in a Rumble Africa Promotions tournament at NU10 Hall in Mdantsane on Saturday.
The two former amateur stars, who train under Sean Smith in Johannesburg, will take on Luthando Mbumbulwana and Antonio Mayala respectively.
Mbenge will be fighting at home for the first time since he turned professional while Lamati will also be making his debut under Smith.
But Lamati will have his hands full against the Mthatha southpaw Mbumbulwana who has fought a better opposition and has experience of fighting in the junior-featherweight division.