Wins keep on coming for Edenglen boxer

Ludumo Lamati has recently been named the new SA Junior Featherweight boxing champion.

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The championships were held in East London at the Oriental Theatre on April 30.

Ludumo joined Rocky Wainstein’s Edenglen boxing gym at the beginning of January.

Three months later he had won the championships.

“It feels very good to be the new champion. I grew up in the Eastern Cape and I had a fan base in the area.”

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Ludumo began his boxing career when he was eight years old, taking lessons at school, but he became involved with the wrong crowd.

At the age of 10, Ludumo moved away from the bad influences and returned to school after receiving a scholarship from a concerned community member and schoolteacher, Vido Mtekwane.

But he would become bored, jump the school wall and run away, he said.

Once Ludumo had escaped from school, he went back to his life on the street.

There he learnt some boxing skills. But he was also arrested.

“The social workers actually helped me and showed me how I could become good at boxing,” said Ludumo.

Around the age of 17 he realised a career in boxing was what he wanted.

He said what appealed to him the most was becoming better at the sport, as well as the travelling involved.

Some of his accomplishments include boxing in Cuba and Germany.

In 2016, Ludumo also won an African Boxing Union belt.

“Boxing is the greatest sport ever. When you do boxing as a sport, you need discipline. You have to respect yourself and your body. You have to look after yourself,” said Ludumo.

Ludumo trains every day, including road running, gym training and strength training.

He hopes to one day win an International Boxing Union belt.

“Ludumo has a lot of potential. I hope to see him go far,” said Rocky.