The world of boxing is experiencing hours of deep pain after the death of Ardi Ndembowho had been hospitalized in a Miami hospital for three weeks after suffering a brutal knockout against Mario Santana within the framework of the Team Combat League event that faced the Las Vegas Hustle and Miami Assassins teams.
Ndembo, from 27 years, was originally from Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo) but lived in South Africa and had been in the United States for a few months. On April 5, he got into the ring to face the Cuban the Bull Santanasince he was part of the Las Vegas team. But that fight lasted less than a minute: the African fell to the canvas and did not get up again..
Santana, who while facing his rival was doing his own show for the stands, managed to land several blows to the face and was a impact with the left fist which sent Ndembo to the ground. Once he was lying down, the health authorities raised his legs and placed him on his side, until the transmission stopped showing what happened.
The first reports of The New Herald from Miami indicated that he had been transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital urgent “in very bad condition”. There it was “he underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain” and then remained “in an induced coma”. “Ndembo lost consciousness on the way to the hospital and is currently He is assisted with an artificial respirator to stabilize his condition, which was reported to be critical.“, they said in those first hours after the knockout. Throughout this period, the organization collected money to help his family.
But after spending more than 20 days hospitalized, it was reported that Ndembo had died: “At Viva Promotions we mourn the loss of Ardi Ndembo, a talented Congolese boxer who tragically passed away after a knockout in a Team Fighting League match on April 5. He remained in an induced coma until his premature death. RIP Ardi Ndembo! ”He wrote the gym where he trained on social networks. The organization of this contest also referred to what happened: “The boxing community mourns the loss of Ardi Ndembo. Originally from Brazzaville, Congo, Ardi Ndembo was a 27-year-old father of two children. Please take a moment to send his strength, prayers and support to the Ndembo family at this difficult time.”
Official statistics indicated that Ardi previously registered eight fights as a professional, all with victories and seven of them through the fast track. After having presentations on his continent, he arrived in North America where he held two fights in Mexico in the first months of 2024.
The Team Combat League is “the country’s first and only boxing league with a team-based ownership model.” The “matches” are divided into 24 three-minute rounds and each competitor performs in one round. There are six men’s and six women’s categories. The TCL has a unique scoring system for each round individually, with three judges authorized by the State Athletic Boxing Commission. Rounds are scored 10-9 for the winner, but if there is a fall it is 10-8 and if there are two falls or an early stop it is 10-7. All scores are then added up and the team with the most points at the end of the 24 rounds wins that match.
For example, that fateful night ended with a 229-200 victory for the Miami Assassins against the Las Vegas Hustle. In total, there are 12 teams: Dallas Enforcers, Houston Hitmen, LA Elite San Antonio Snipers, Las Vegsa Hustle (Western Conference), Atlanta Attack, Boston Butchers, DC Destroyers, NYC Attitude, Orlando Vipers, Philly Smoke and Miami Assassins (Eastern Conference ).
