Ahead of the 'Last Sting of the Wasp', Ndongeni credits boxing for transforming his life

 It’s been 16 years since Ndongeni started fighting at the professional level in 2010 in Ku-Gompo City (formerly East London), and the last fight will be this coming weekend at the Buffalo City Stadium. Ndongeni says his final farewell bout, staged by his promoters---Ground Up Sports Promotions will be a special event.

"Next week is the 'Last Sting of the Wasp.' I've been boxing for some time, and you know what? I'm grateful for the space, the time, and the opportunities that I got in the space of boxing. It comes to a point where I'm like, now it is a circle that is completed. I need to complete the circle, you know," said Ndongeni.

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"I started boxing in 2010 as a professional boxer. Now it's 2016, which makes it 15 years of boxing as a professional. I've also had my share; I spent my time in the ring, I tried my luck, and I won the matches that I won and lost the ones that I lost . So I think I've done enough for myself to be where I am, considering where I've come from.

"So I think now it's time to say, take this month of May because I was born in May, I had my first fight in May, and now I'm fighting my last fight in May, which is one of the beautiful things to do and see as a boxer coming together for myself."

Ndongeni, a former South African junior-lightweight and lightweight champion, IBO and WBF lightweight world champion, has fought in many international bouts in the 16 years of his career at the highest level. This weekend, he comes up against Chumani Tunzi, in the last fight of his career, and says boxing has changed his life.

Ndongeni, who was introduced to the sport of boxing by his cousin in Duncan Village, where he grew up, hails from Ku-Bhaca area in the Eastern Cape. He knows more about the struggles some boxers have faced from these areas and how they have used sport to transform their lives.

A product of one of the best boxing trainers in the Eastern Cape, Mzamo “Chief” Njekanye, Nomeva, as Ndongeni is popularly known, has already established himself on the entertainment and business side. He’s running his own gym, where some celebrities are his top clients in Midrand, Johannesburg.