Mayweather vs. Ndou [Archive]

Curly Howard

10-13-2003, 06:33 PM

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Phillip Ndou: "Time Bomb" Ticking
by Thomas Gerbasi (February 27, 2002)
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We've been down this road before. A fighter comes out of South Africa with a gaudy record and great reputation, and as soon as he gets in a big fight outside of his country, he loses. We've seen it with Lehlohonolo Ledwaba (lost to Manny Pacquiao), Hawk Makepula (to Irene Pacheco), Mbulelo Botile (to Frankie Toledo), and Zolani Petelo (to Ricardo Lopez). The latest South African superstar in the making is Phillip Ndou, a WBU junior lightweight titlist and puncher extraordinaire. Will he break the South African jinx?

"I believe in myself and I believe in what I do every time," Ndou told MaxBoxing. "For me to say that I can come to the United States and do something, it's what I believe in, and I won't say something that I'll never do. With my hard training I know that I can be a superstar all over the world."

At 24, Ndou has the confidence of youth on his side and the work ethic to match it. Training is a recurring theme in a conversation with the 'Time Bomb', and when Ndou steps into the ring to defend his title against Russian Nikolai Eremeev (16-3-2, 6 KOs) this Saturday, he will not be taking his challenger lightly, a huge feat since he is coming off the biggest win of his career, a points win over Cassius Baloyi last November.

"He's coming here to fight," said Ndou of Eremeev. "I can't just hold back and relax. He's here to take my title. But I will defend my title, and I will keep it."

Ndou's longtime trainer and manager, Nick Durandt, also gives Eremeev little chance to defuse the 'Time Bomb'. "Every fight's a different fight, but this kid (Ndou) has been focused since day one. I've never had a problem focusing him in the least. Eremeev is an upright Russian that I don't think has been tested to the caliber of a Phillip Ndou as yet. I don't think he's been in with a puncher the likes of Phillip Ndou."

Ah, the punch. Ndou has punched his way to 25 wins in 26 fights. The only man to last the distance was Baloyi, but his battered and swollen face told the tale of 12 rounds with Ndou. And the only man to best the 24-year-old was a journeyman named Anthony Campbell, who stopped the then-featherweight in three rounds in 1998. One note about that loss is that Campbell usually plied his trade as a junior weterweight.

But back to the punch. Ndou has proven power in both hands, and if you need examples, look no further than Carlos Rios, who went 12 rounds with Floyd Mayweather, only to be KO'ed by a single uppercut by Ndou, or Russell Jones, who lasted 10 rounds with Joel Casamayor, but could only manage four with the 'Time Bomb'. Ndou believes his power is a product of nature and hard work. "When you're born, you're born with something that I consider is from God," he said. "But also by training hard every time, I'm getting more powerful."

More power may be a frightening prospect to the world's junior lightweights. What may be even scarier is that Ndou can box as well, a point proven in his win over Baloyi. "There was talk that I can't box and that I couldn't go for twelve rounds," he said. "But I knew that I trained hard every time and that I could box. I'm a fighter and a boxer. Most people are still shocked even now. They don't believe that it was me that night."

The 12 rounder with the then-WBU featherweight titlist, dubbed 'Fire and Ice ', was a true Superfight in every sense of the word. It was front-page news in South Africa, with everyone from celebrities to politicians weighing in with their predictions.

The fight actually lived up to the hype, and made Ndou a household name in his country. It was a far cry from his humble upbringings in Thohoyandou of the Northern Province. Ndou's parents divorced while he was still a baby, and Phillip bounced around various relatives' homes as a child. A self-admitted street fighter growing up, Ndou took to the sweet science rather quickly, and began boxing at the age of 10. He racked up win after win as an amateur, and fought for South Africa at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, losing in the second round of the Games.

It was around that time that Ndou's long absent father, Wilson Ratshilingwna Ndou, heard about his son's exploits in the ring for the first time. The two wouldn't be reunited for another four years, and in the process of catching up on years lost, the elder Ndou saw his son fight for the first time when he dismantled Baloyi.

"I was happy to see my father there for the first time to watch me fighting," remembered Ndou. "It was a dream for him to watch me fighting. My family is very supportive to me. They always pray for me and light candles for me. They believe I can go far by staying with Nick Durandt. I have a supportive family and I love them because they are there for me every time."

After the Olympics, Ndou turned pro under the auspices of Durandt, and the two quickly developed a familial relationship. "He joined me after the Atlanta Olympics," said Durandt. "He called me up. I had Cassius Baloyi at the time; I had Sugar Boy Malinga, and numerous other champions in my organization. He called me up and said he wanted to turn pro, and would I be interested in working with him. We set up a meeting, and a week later he was under my roof."

A year later, the 20-year-old prospect had a decision to make. Durandt was embroiled in a scandal in South Africa where he was illegally wiretapped and alleged to have made racial remarks. Most of his stable, including Malinga, Baloyi, and assistant trainer Elias Tshabalala, bolted. Ndou stayed.

What did that show Durandt? "Loyalty. Money doesn't buy loyalty."

"For me to stay with Nick Durandt when the others left, I totally believe in the man," said Ndou. "The man promised me that he was going to take me far, and I believed that. What he did was allow me to become a world champion and he fulfilled his promise to me. We're a real family now and we're very close. He's like a father and a brother to me. People can't take that one thing away from me, that we're a great family."

Armed with the promotional muscle of Rodney Berman and Golden Gloves Ltd., Ndou and Durandt are ready to take on America, where the 'Time Bomb' has appeared twice previously (scoring KOs over Edgar Barcenas on the Lewis-Grant undercard, and Manuel Sepeda on the Lewis-Tua undercard).

"I would like to come back and fight in the US," said Ndou. "I would like to fight the IBF and WBC world champions, and to expose myself to the people that are unaware that I'm a junior lightweight now. I'm here to stay and I' m pretty sure that I can go far with the way I box."

Durandt is even bolder when it comes to his charge's prospects on the big stage. "I'd like Steve Forbes," he said. "There is talk, but when a manager sees Phillip Ndou's record, you don't want to take him on in too much of a hurry."

"I'd take on any of the junior lightweights," Durandt continues. "I'm not even afraid of Floyd Mayweather. Phillip would be much too big for Floyd Mayweather. A lot of fighters out there are going to struggle against him. He has big power in both hands, he's completely dedicated to the sport, and even with the big wins over Cassius Baloyi, and winning the world title over Rios, it has never gone to his head. His head is screwed on, and he knows where he wants to be. He's young, he's 24, got a helluva reputation, a helluva record, and none of the American fighters out there scare me. I would love shots at Mayweather or Naseem, and I'm not talking big because I need a shot at them. Right now, we don't need to fight them. We're making good money and we've got a great promoter in Rodney Berman. I'm not trying to stand on a pedestal and say we want the fight to create noise about it. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't happen our lives will still continue, and Phillip Ndou will still end up being one of the best fighters in the world."

Phillip Ndou is the latest of a long line of solid South African fighters to surface on the world scene. And with a little more seasoning, he may be the one to succeed where his countrymen have failed. Said Ndou, "When you put a bomb, you just put a time on for it to explode."

Tick-tick-tick-tick.