Lovemore Ndou wants to return to his South African homeland and enter politics

Born into poverty in apartheid South Africa Lovemore Ndou says he’d be dead or in jail if not for boxing. Now a lawyer with three world titles and six degrees, he’s preparing to embark on his biggest challenge yet.

Boxing is a sport famous for its ability to lift poverty-stricken kids out of despair and give them direction in life, sometimes even developing them into champions.

That said, Lovemore Ndou’s story is still hard to comprehend.

A young South African black man grows up in a shack with his six brothers and sisters, swims in crocodile-infested waters to catch fish for dinner, has his best friend die in his arms at a protest, is jailed for talking to a white female and then beaten by police and attacked by a police dog that left him scarred for life.

He then goes on to win three boxing world titles across the globe, earns six university degrees in law, communications and psychology and opens his own law firm to fight against

injustice in his adopted homeland of Australia.

Lovemore Ndou opens up to Gary Jubelin in the latest episode of I Catch Killers. Picture: Richard Dobson

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And still this is only scratching the surface of Ndou’s remarkable life story. But if it was a movie script, Ndou would tell you it would only be half finished.

In an at times confronting episode of I Catch Killers, which is out on Monday, Ndou reveals the extent of his own personal suffering growing up in South Africa and his incredible determination to break free from the cycle of poverty and violence he was exposed to in his formative years as a result of a brutal apartheid regime.

“I grew up at the time where a black man’s life meant nothing. It was often you would see white men driving around in a ute with his dog sitting in the front next to him, whereas a black man would be sitting right at the back when it’s raining,” he recalls of those dehumanising moments that defined his outlook on life.

“It destroys you (seeing that) but it comes down to racism. Racism is a disease that can destroy anyone but you just have to learn to be strong … The coronavirus is a pandemic, well racism is the same thing. If it’s not treated it turns into a pandemic and it’s been a pandemic for years.”

Lovemore N'dou speaks to the media during a Black Lives Matter protest. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

Ndou tells Jubelin if he hadn’t discovered boxing when he was an angry youth his life would be far different.

“I had too many firearms … And anger mixed with firearms is a terrible cocktail. I’m grateful that I never got to use the firearm on anyone,” he says.

“If I never got into boxing I would probably be locked up in jail today or dead. Walking around with a gun, I always felt I was untouchable.”

Ndou arrived in Australia in 1996 and became one of the country’s most famous boxers. In a career that included 64 fights with 49 victories and 31 by knockout. In 2019 he was inducted into the Australian Boxing Hall of Fame seven years after his final fight in which he defeated Gary St. Clair to win the IBF Pan Pacific and WBF welterweight belts.

Now a regular in the courts of Sydney representing his firm Lovemore Lawyers, Ndou specialises in family and criminal law. He has a special empathy for Indigenous Australians who, he says, are roughly treated by the legal system.

Lovemore Ndou in action against Ruben Diaz who he beat for the IBF/PPBF Junior Welterweight title at the state sports centre. Picture: James Horan

“I do a lot of pro bono work for Indigenous people. For me, it’s a way of giving back to the community … But also a lot of indigenous people face a lot of injustices so that’s part of the reason why I always represent them.”

And while content with his life as a Sydney solicitor, at the age of 50 Ndou tells Jubelin the biggest fight of his life is still ahead of him. Inspired by his hero Nelson Mandela he wants to return to South Africa to begin a political career and fight corruption in the country which shaped him.

“I’m not happy with what’s currently happening in South Africa, corruption has gone up (through) the roof.

“South Africa has been a democratic state for twenty-six years now. Twenty-six years later, we still have people using the bucket sanitation system. We still have people living in a shack. You know, we still have children going to bed on an empty stomach.

“This is where I make a difference. I’ve been through all that. I’ve experienced what South African people have experienced. I’ve been on both sides, so I know what the people need. You know, the people need someone who is going to listen to them.”