by Mary Spiller
April 27, 2024
Ardi Ndembo was 8-0 in his boxing career before his tragic death.
Ardi Ndembo, a young heavyweight boxer, died on April 25. The 27-year-old passed away just three weeks after he was put into an induced coma in Miami due to a brutal knockout.
Before the knockout loss, Ndembo had a perfect 8-0 record in his career. However, in his match against Nestor Santana on April 5, he was knocked out and laid unconscious in the ring for several minutes.
Following the Team Combat League fight, Ndembo was put into a medically induced coma in a Miami hospital. The father of two unfortunately died from his injuries the following Thursday. His wife was beside him as he passed.
The Team Combat League promotional sponsor paid their condolences to the boxer in a post on X.
“We at Viva Promotions mourn the loss of Ardi Ndembo, a talented Congolese boxer who tragically passed away after a knockout in a Team Combat League match on April 5. He remained in an induced coma until his death. RIP Ardi Ndembo!” They wrote.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s uncle, Jeff, was also a part of the team that Ndembo represented in the Team Combat League called the Las Vegas Hustle. Jeff was standing just beside the ring when the knockout match happened.
He opened up to The Sun about what happened. He said, “Boxing’s a sport where you grow up watching it and loving it, but there’s so much risk involved. Anyone can lose their life from boxing. When something like this happens, it wakes up the whole entire world.
“I don’t think boxing’s a bad sport because you can die in any sport. You drive a race car at 200mph, if it slides, you’re going to die too. You can die in any sport but boxing is a brutal sport.”
Since then, a GoFundMe page has been started to help support Ndembo’s family during these trying times.
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