Former IBF junior welterweight champion Lovemore ‘The Black Panther’ Ndou can see a world championship in the future for WBO number one junior middleweight contender Tim ‘The Soul Snatcher’ Tszyu 18-0 (14).
The 26-year-old Tszyu from Sydney, Australia, has rolled through all domestic and regional competition, claiming the scalps of Jeff Horn, Dennis Hogan, Dwight Ritchie, Jack Brubaker and Bowyn Morgan in the past two years.
The last remaining name on his hitlist is Michael Zerafa 28-4 (17) who he will face at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales on July 7.
Ndou, who won the vacant IBF 140-pound belt against Naoufel Ben Rabeh in Sydney 14 years ago before retiring in 2012, knows a thing or two about the Tszyu family name. He first arrived in Australia from South Africa in the mid-90s to work as a sparring partner for Tim’s famous father Kostya Tszyu.
Now working as a lawyer in his adopted hometown of Sydney, Ndou says he can see a lot of similarities between the young Tszyu and his Hall of Fame father.
“I can see Timmy becoming a world champion someday,” Ndou said to Ray Wheatley of World of Boxing and Fightnews.
“The kid is full of talent and potential. And the good thing about his is that he is so dedicated and you can see that he works so hard in the gym.
“One thing that people don’t realise with Tim is that he is so accurate with his punches. He kind of reminds me of his old man, Kostya Tszyu. Because I did a lot of sparring with Kostya and Tim reminds me a lot of him because of his accuracy with his punches.”
Tszyu will have to wait a little longer for his shot at a world title with WBO boss Brian ‘El Boxi’ Castano 17-0-1 (12) set to face WBC, WBA and IBF kingpin Jermell ‘Iron Man’ Charlo 34-1 (18) in a four-belt unification bout at a venue to be determined in the US on July 17.
“I think Charlo is going to beat Castano,” Ndou continued. “That’s how I see it. But I can see a fight happening one day between Tim and Charlo. And like I said, Tim has got a chance of getting anyone.
“I read somewhere about Charlo pretty much underestimating Tim, but when they step into the ring he will realise the kid can fight. The kid is so accurate, anything can happen. I can see Tim getting him one day.”
Earlier this year Tszyu’s promoter No Limit Boxing said they were willing to offer Charlo $10 million to face their young gun in Australia.
“I don’t think he’s knocked it back,” Ndou said. “When the time is right, he will take the money. It’s a good payday. Unless somebody is offering him double that, I don’t see why he can’t take that. I don’t think he’s currently making that kind of money. If he is, good luck to him.
“But I can see him taking the money. Coming to Australia, taking the fight against Tim Tszyu and to fight him in Australia, he’s definitely going to get beat.”
