Ardi Ndembo, a heavyweight competitor from Congo, was knocked down by Nestor Santana during a Team Combat League match.
The father of two, who had an impeccable 8-0 record was rendered unconscious in the ring for some minutes and was then put into an induced coma at the hospital.
Nevertheless, the promotion company wrote on X on Thursday night, “We at Viva Promotions mourn the loss of Ardi Ndembo, a talented Congolese boxer who tragically passed away on April 5 following a knockout in a Team Combat League match.”
According to reports, Ndembo’s wife took a plane from Las Vegas to Florida to be by his side.
Ndembo was boxing for Las Vegas Hustle in the Team Combat League, which allows fighters to compete as teams rather than as individuals.
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Following the horrifying event, Floyd Mayweather’s uncle Jeff, who plays for the Las Vegas squad, paid tribute to his fighter.
“Boxing is a sport where you grow up watching and loving it, but there’s so much risk involved. Boxing has the potential to kill anyone. The entire globe awakens when something like this occurs. Since anyone can die in any sport, I don’t think boxing is a harmful sport. If you are driving a race car at 200 mph and it slides, you will also die. Boxing is a hard sport, but in sports, you can die”, he noted.
Mauricio Sulaiman, President of WBC, was one of the first to offer condolences:
“May he rest in peace,” he wrote on X. In Miami, Ardi Ndembo departed from this life. We send our sympathies to his family. ‘Relief monies’ for Ndembo’s family can be raised through a GoFundMe page. Right now, the total is $9,446″.
Ardi Ndembo suffered serious injuries while competing in Miami, Florida, on April 5, 2024.
To help the Ndembo children, Team Combat League will match all third-party donations up to a maximum of $25,000.
The 27-year-old father of two, Ardi Ndembo, is originally from Brazzaville, Congo in Africa.