NICK Durandt would welcome a challenge from Lovemore "Black Panther" Ndou, should his charge, Isaac "The Angel" Hlatshwayo, beat Delvin Rodriguez for the vacant IBF welterweight belt.

NICK Durandt would welcome a challenge from Lovemore "Black Panther" Ndou, should his charge, Isaac "The Angel" Hlatshwayo, beat Delvin Rodriguez for the vacant IBF welterweight belt.

"It will be our easiest fight," said Durandt, who regards Hlatshwayo's fight with the American at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut on August 1 as a fait accompli.

"But I find it strange that Lovemore now wants to fight Hlatshwayo (pictured).

"We offered him the fight last year and offered big purse money but still he would not come here.

"Is he looking for cheap publicity or what?"

Durandt was responding to Ndou's statement to Fightnews, which quoted the newly crowned IBO champion as saying: "I'm ready to defeat the winner of the Isaac Hlatshwayo versus Delvin Rodriguez (fight).

"I am confident that I will beat either of them after seeing tapes of them."

Hlatshwayo and Rodriguez will fight for the vacant IBF belt that was held by Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, who was supposed to defend against Hlatshwayo in February but opted to challenge Miguel Angel Cotto for the WBO belt.

The IBF stripped Clottey of its belt after he signed a contract to challenge Cotto, who retained his belt via a split decision last month.

Said Durandt: "Lovemore must be ashamed to call himself a world champion after his performance against Phillip (Ndou).

"By calling the name 'Isaac', he is definitely calling for an instant retirement package and we will be happy to design it for him.

"When Isaac becomes the IBF champion of the world, Lovemore and his promoter Rodney Berman must come and play on our field because Isaac will be the IBF champion not IBO. You must remember that Lovemore is wearing the belt that Isaac has already had." Hlatshwayo won the IBO belt in 2007. He defended twice against Robert Medley in Australia but was later stripped of the title.