Landile Ngxeke, who fights for the IBF bantamweight title in Mexico City on Saturday, is still haunted by the death of his mother more than a decade ago.
The 30-year-old, with a record of 16 wins (8 KOs), one loss, and a draw, fights for the vacant belt against 23-year-old Jose Salas Reyes, with an unblemished card of 16 victories, 10 inside the distance.
Ngxeke is the underdog, but in some ways he’s been fighting the odds ever since his mother died suddenly in 2012, when he was only 17.
Until then he had enjoyed a near idyllic life in Upper Shiloh, a village tucked against a mountain in Whittlesea, about 35km south of Komani, as Queenstown used to be known.
He started boxing when he was seven, also enjoying other sports like soccer, rugby, cricket and table tennis.
Fond of hunting
Ngxeke was fond of hunting, training his dogs to catch animals like rabbits and even buck. “I love dogs — greyhounds, whippets, and salukis. They slept with me in the bedroom. My dogs were everything to me.”
The taste of fresh meat remains his favourite.
Ngxeke loved his rural existence. Even though they were poor, they got by. His mother would help him with schoolwork while also looking after his two younger sisters and her own mother. “I was comfortable,” he recalled.
“There were those people who wanted to be in the big city. I didn’t want to be one of them.”
His mother died suddenly. “After my mom passed, I couldn’t focus. I got to Grade 12, but I didn’t make it. My granny was alone at home, and she was too old to cook for us and clean,” said Ngxeke, who got piece work where he could to raise extra cash.
He landed in trouble at 19 after getting into a fight at a tavern after a man spilled a drink on him. It started out with pushing and ended up in fisticuffs, with the boxer knocking the other man to the ground.
Two days later police arrested him. “I was in jail for three months, and after that I said to myself, ‘no, I don’t want to go back’.”
No more alcohol
In 2016 Ngxeke gave up alcohol, apart from the occasional sip during traditional ceremonies, and in 2018 his older brother, a police officer in Cape Town, took him to East London so he could turn professional.
He immersed himself in the fight game while living quietly outside the ring.
His first paid fight was against Phumelela Cafu, the future WBO junior-bantamweight champion, and ended in a draw. They are now stablemates at Colin Nathan’s gym in Johannesburg. “After that fight we became friends.”
His sole defeat was a second-round stoppage at the hands of Filipino Jayr Raquinel in 2022, but Nathan is impressed by the way Ngxeke has dug in to reel off seven wins in a row to climb the IBF world rankings.
This will be Nathan’s fourth sojourn into Mexico, looking to stretch his winning streak after two world title victories there by Sivenathi Nontshinga and a triumphant elimination contest by Hekkie Budler.
“I’m 100% confident I’m going to be the new world champion,” said Ngxeke.
Even in the ring he still remembers his mother, Zoliswa. “I always wish my mother was here,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath to catch his emotions.
“Others, when they fight, they call their mothers into the ring. When they talk, they thank their mothers. Those things touch me.”
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