The full story of 'Time Bomb' now being told on national TV

One of South Africa’s most decorated boxing champions, who was born and bred in the Vhembe District, is the very first boxer from Makwarela township to have a documentary about him aired on a national television channel. The documentary, called “Timebomb”, focuses on the life of Phillip Ndou and is currently being aired on Mzansi Magic Channel 161, three times a week: Thursdays between 09:00 and 10:00, Saturdays between 20:30 and 21:30, and Sundays between 20:30 and 21:30.

Speaking to Limpopo Mirror last week, Ndou thanked all his fans for encouraging him from his days in the amateur ranks until he became a world champion. “I would also like to thank the Mirror newspaper for covering my fights when I was still an amateur boxer. Nearly all my classmates bought the newspaper, and I became an overnight hero because of that story,” he said.

Ndou’s first brutal fight in the amateur ranks was against Vhalinavho Matamela, who was one of the best amateur boxers from Limpopo at the time. Ndou was also the only South African boxer to have fought the American boxing champion, Floyd Mayweather. He said even though some boxing fans think his fight against Mayweather was the toughest, his most difficult one was against Cassius Baloyi. Ndou came up against Baloyi to contest for the World Boxing Union (WBU) junior lightweight belt at Carnival City on 3 November 2001. “That was war,” he said.

Ndou had 42 fights, out of which he won 37, lost 5, and had no draws or no-contests. He had an impressive knockout record, scoring 34 KO wins out of his 37 wins. Unfortunately, he also suffered three losses via knockout.

Sport - Date: 02 March 2024

Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

Email: [email protected]