Lovemore Ndou (born 16 August 1971) is a South African-Australian solicitor and former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who competed from 1993 to 2012. He held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

junior-welterweight title in 2007, and the IBO

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

title from 2009 to 2010.

Professional career

Lovemore was born in

Musina Musina (; formerly Messina) is the northernmost town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Limpopo River with the Sand River and the border to Zimbabwe. It has a population of between 20,000 and 40, ...

, South Africa, and started boxing at the age of 16. He had a successful amateur career of 68 fights with 66 wins and 2 losses, where he was a four-time South African champion in four consecutive years. He could not compete on an international level as South Africa then was banned from international competition due to its practice of

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

. Ndou made his professional debut in 1993 against Enoch Khuzwayo in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

, South Africa winning on a points decision. In his 13th professional fight in August 1995, Ndou fought for the South African Super Featherweight Title against Mthobeli Mhlophe with the contest ending in a draw. After that bout Ndou left South Africa and migrated to settle in Australia beginning a run of 17 consecutive victories from May 1996 to June 2000 rising to a world WBC #2 ranking, before a loss in a 10-round unanimous points decision against former WBC International champion Guillermo Mosquera. After the loss to Mosquera, Ndou lost motivation and fought rarely with only 3 fights in 2 years before heading to the United States for 3 fights during 2002 culminating in 2 losses. Ndou won his first major professional title on 29 November 2002 defeating Sarit Saeknaew by TKO to claim the IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight Title at Festival Hall in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. During 2003, Ndou made three successful defences of his IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight Title before an IBF World Light Welterweight Title bout against

Sharmba Mitchell Sharmba David Mitchell ( ; born August 27, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2006. He held the WBA light welterweight title from 1998 to 2001, and the IBF interim light welterweight title in 2004. Profe ...

on 7 February 2004 in Atlantic City, USA. Ndou lost the bout against Mitchell via a unanimous points decision. Following the loss to Mitchell, Ndou returned to Australia to defend his IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight Title twice before heading to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, USA to fight Miguel Angel Cotto for the WBC International Light Welterweight Title and WBA Fedelatin Light Welterweight Title on 8 May 2004 with Ndou again losing via a unanimous points decision. Ndou closed out 2004 retaining his IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight Title against Ruben Francisco Silva Diaz in Sydney. Ndou began 2005 with a 12 rounds unanimous points loss to

Junior Witter Junior Witter (born 10 March 1974) is a British former world champion professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the World Boxing Council, WBC light welterweight world title from 2006 to 2008 and challenged once for the IBF ligh ...

at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, USA for the Commonwealth Light Welterweight Title. Over the next 18 months following the loss to Witter, Ndou defended his IBF Pan Pacific Light Welterweight Title on four occasions to rise to the world IBF #1 Light Welterweight ranking at the start of 2007. On 4 February 2007 in Sydney, Ndou fought in the Australian Fight of the Year and defeated Naoufel Ben Rabah in an IBF World Light Welterweight Title Eliminator for the right to meet current title holder

Ricky Hatton Richard John Hatton (born 6 October 1978) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 1997 and 2012, and has since worked as a boxing promoter and trainer. During his boxing career he held multiple world championships at l ...

, after Hatton had won the title against

Juan Urango Juan Fernando Urango Rivas (born October 4, 1980), best known as Juan Urango, is a Colombian former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2012. He held the IBF junior welterweight title twice between 2006 and 2010, and challenged once ...

in Las Vegas, USA two weeks earlier. Hatton however refused the IBF's demand that he fight Ndou for the IBF World Light Welterweight Title, instead scheduling a fight against

José Luis Castillo José Luis Castillo (born December 14, 1973) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2014. Generally considered one of the best lightweights of his era, he is a two-time world champion at that weight, having held the WB ...

. Following Hatton's decision, the IBF stripped Hatton of the IBF World Light Welterweight Title, awarding Ndou the title on 12 February 2007. Ndou lost his first title defense on 16 June 2007 against American

Paul Malignaggi Paul "Paulie" Malignaggi (; ; born November 23, 1980) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017 and has since worked as a boxing commentator and analyst. He held world championships in two weight classes, including ...

Uncasville Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, USA. After that bout Ndou stayed in America and worked as the main sparring partner for

Floyd Mayweather Floyd may refer to: As a name * Floyd (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Floyd (surname), a list of people and fictional characters Places in the United States * Floyd, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Floyd, I ...

for his bout against

. While waiting to fight Malignaggi again he knocked out Rafael Ortiz in the 7th round as a stay busy fight. On 24 May 2008, Lovemore got his rematch against Malignaggi. The bout was fought as the main supporting bout to the Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano bout at the City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, United Kingdom. The bout was a much different one from their first encounter, with Malignaggi taking the lead a lot more and N'dou playing the role of counter-puncher. CompuBox Punchstats showed that Ndou landed 23% of his punches, while Malignaggi connected with 17%. In the end the Malignaggi again won the bout, this time by a close split decision. Ndou studied law at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

, and having retired from boxing operates successful legal practice Lovemore Lawyers in Rockdale, Sydney.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:N'dou, Lovemore 1971 births South African male boxers International Boxing Federation champions South African emigrants to Australia Living people International Boxing Organization champions People from Musina Local Municipality Australian male boxers Super-featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers Light-middleweight boxers World light-welterweight boxing champions Sportspeople from Limpopo