Floyd Mayweather has put some respect on the name of former South African professional boxer and world title challenger Phillip “The Time Bomb” Ndou, dubbing him one hell of a fighter and among the toughest competitors he ever fought.
Mayweather finally landed on South African shores for his long-awaited Motherland tour – landing in his R900-million private jet at Lanseria airport yesterday.
The flamboyant former undefeated world boxing champion had a trivial crowd waiting in suspense for his arrival, who hung around for over three hours.
Ndou got an opportunity to stick it out in the ring with Mayweather in 2003, where he took the fight to Mayweather before he was knocked out in the seventh round.
“Phillip and I had an amazing fight. I think it was a lightweight division at that time. I must admit, he was a hell of a fighter,” Mayweather told Sunday World.
“He was a tough competitor, definitely amongst the toughest fighters I had the opportunity to face inside the ring. But in the end, I was the better man that night.”
The Thohoyandou-born star was known for his punching prowess, which took the boxing industry by storm. He was an intercontinental featherweight, WBA, WBU and WBC international junior lightweight title holder, and one of the greatest boxers to ever come out of SA, alongside the late legendary Jacob “Baby Jake” Matlala.
Mayweather said one of his profound purposes of the tour was to honour some South African boxing legends and to raise funds for youth in boxing through his Youth Empowerment Programme.
He hosted a significant banquet dinner, which was held at the Sandton Convention Centre last night, which was filled with gilts and glamour in an all-black attire theme.
“We have a lot of legends that come from Africa, so many great champions,” he said.
“It all started in Africa, this is where some of the greatest champions came from. So, we must take our hats off to this beautiful continent.
“I am just happy to be back in South Africa.”
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