Landile ‘Man Down’ Ngxeke is fired up as the days are drawing closer to the most important fight of his career, which is against Mexican opponent José Manuel Salas Reyes in Mexico this coming Saturday (Sunday morning, South African time).
Ngxeke is scheduled to exchange leather with Reyes in a vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight title fight at the Explanada de la Alcaldía Gustavo A. Madero in Mexico City.
“I’m here to win, not to play. I’m going to come back home with the belt. The belt has been waiting for me for some time now,” a confident Ngxeke said after sweating buckets at the gym early on Thursday morning, South African time.
Ngxeke, who is the current South African bantamweight champion, will go to the fight with a professional record of 18 victories with eight knockouts and a loss. The 30-year-old Sada-born Ngxeke has gone seven straight wins since his loss to Filipino boxer Jayr Raquinel in 2022.
On the other hand, Reyes from Tijuana in Baja California, Mexico, is unbeaten, having won all his 16 fights with 10 of those wins coming from stoppages.
Meanwhile, an all-American panel of judges made up of Joel Elizondo from Texas, California-based Jonathan Davis and Chris Wilson from Arizona are going to be on duty during the fight with Mexican Alfredo Uruzquieta being the referee. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
