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Ndou aiming to blow Phiri away

PHILLIP Ndou is back - and the "Time Bomb" has been set to detonate at Wembley Arena on December 11.

PHILLIP Ndou is back - and the "Time Bomb" has been set to detonate at Wembley Arena on December 11.

The admired Ndou will face Ali Phiri in a junior welterweight fight over eight rounds. Branco Sports Productions will present this fight and five others, including the IBF welterweight championship between holder Isaac Hlatshwayo and German challenger Jan Zaveck.

"Otto" Phiri from the Hardrock Professional Boxing Stable of Issa Phiri at Borrowdale Brooke in Zimbabwe is a novice of only five wins (2 KOs) and one defeat.

Phiri, the stablemate of WBA Pan-African heavyweight champion Thamsanqa Dube, campaigns in the lightweight division. Dube lifted the belt after an eighth-round stoppage of Jake Els on April 2.

Milenkovic said he believed this match- up was the right fight for Ndou because he and manager Butityi Konki were trying to rebuild the boxer's confidence after his loss of the IBO belt to Lovemore Ndou (no relation) in July.

"We believe that it is too early for him to fight a top-name warrior like Lovemore when he has just returned from a five-year retirement," Milenkovic said yesterday.

The Australia-based "Panther", a former IBF junior welterweight holder, punished Phillip over 12 rounds at the Palace of Dreams in Ekurhuleni.

Milenkovic said he would give Phillip two more warm-up fights before trying to get him him a world rating, which will lead to a shot at one of the legitimate world titles.

Phillip, 32, a skeletal fighter from Thohoyandou in Venda, retired in 2004 due a cyst on his brain. He was given a clean bill of health by two neurologists late last year.

Phillip made a sweet comeback in February when he blew away Frenchman Rachid Drilzane in five rounds.

However, only Hlatshwayo's defence will be televised live on Blow by Blow at 10pm.

Tickets for the tournament are available at Computicket outlets and Shoprite Checkers stores at R100 for ringside and R50 for ordinary seats.

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