While Phillip Ndou has been acclaimed the best pound-for-pound boxer in South Africa since he beat Cassius Baloyi two years ago, on Saturday he faces an opponent who will put his ‘greatness†in perspective.
The ‘Time Bomb†meets one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world when he challenges ‘Pretty Boy†Floyd Mayweather for the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight world title.
The two fighters, who would look just as at home on the cover of a fashion magazine as in the ring, will face off in the champion’s hometown of Michigan, in what is supposed to be Mayweather’s last hooray at lightweight before moving up a division in pursuit of megafights with Arturro Gatti and, ultimately, Oscar de la Hoya.
Mayweather is a class act, who has already established himself as one of the best boxers of his era, and will be carrying a lot of pride into the ring against a man who possesses an immense desire for success.
Mayweather won the WBC junior-lightweight world title at the age of 21 by stopping boxing great Genaro ‘Chicanito†Hernandez in eight rounds on October 3 1998. He went on to defend the title eight times against an array of top opponents.
He moved up to claim the WBC lightweight title last year on a controversial decision over tough Mexican Jose Luis Castillo. The two met in a rematch three months later, which Mayweather won convincingly over 12 rounds. He made a second defence of his crown with a hard-fought fight against Victoriana Sosa in April this year, taking his record to 30 wins with 20 knockouts.
In contrast, Ndou has by and large fought fighters past their prime, and the majority of his opponents were nothing more than journeymen.
Baloyi has been his only real test to date and the step-up in class could be a telling factor. On paper Ndou has nothing more than a puncher’s chance. Fights aren’t fought on paper, however, and Ndou’s wily trainer, Nic Durandt, has been cautious to hide Ndou’s true abilities as a boxer.
In a career spanning 32 fights with only one loss and 30 knockouts, we have only seen the challenger’s true skill on display once or twice, most notably against Baloyi. In all his other bouts, Ndou has merely waited for the opening and then fired a devastating blow to finish his opponent.
This will be the Ndou that Mayweather will expect, but it is unlikely he will find him in the ring on Saturday. If Ndou were to adopt the strategy of merely looking for the knockout, he will find himself being the one counted out.
While he throws punches with authority, the Baloyi fight revealed that he doesn’t have the strongest chin and his one loss was by knockout. His best option would be to out-box the champion in the early rounds and then try and stop him in the middle rounds.
With all his abilities, Mayweather hasn’t looked comfortable at lightweight and, when under pressure, is no stranger to resorting to throwing an elbow or two and getting a little careless in his defence.
Ndou has only fought past six rounds on three occasions and going into the late rounds with a fighter of the champion’s class would be dangerous. Mayweather has predicted that Ndou will leave the ring on his face, but the time has come for Ndou to prove that he is the bomb.