At first, Ayanda Ndulani’s trainer Kholisile ‘KC’ Cengani found it difficult to believe that his boxer had been ordered by the World Boxing Council (WBC) to fight against Mexican Luis Castillo in an elimination bout.
However, it quickly dawned on Cengani that indeed Ndulani’s boxing career had taken another direction as he will fight against Castillo. Ndulani, who is the current International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight champion, is rated number two by the WBC while Castillo is seventh.
The winner of this bout will become a mandatory challenger to reigning WBC minimumweight champion Panya Pradabsri from Thailand.
“I don’t want to lie, I’m very happy and shocked at the same time because I didn’t expect this. I’m really excited about this. I have always maintained that Ndulani deserves to fight overseas,” Cengani said.
“This is very, very big news to Ndulani as a boxer. We were preparing for a December fight in a Xaba tournament, now this.”
Meanwhile, Ndulani from East London comes from two back-to-back wins over Mthatha’s Siphamandla Baleni in his IBO title defence.
