The Tiger to fight in Vienna

Nathi ‘The Tiger’ Ximba, who recently was ranked as the top fighting contender in the world according to the World Kickboxing Federation, is preparing to claim a world title during a tour to Vienna, Austria in October.

According to Nathi, this will be his second international bout.

Last year Nathi and his coach, Mark Hey, travelled to Vienna in their first international fight attempt.

Although Nathi lost the fight, this opportunity ensured him of a lot of experience and will surely come in handy when he faces the defending World Mauy Thai Champion on 5 October.

Nathi adds that although he is a K-1 specialist, this fight will be for the Mauy Thai Championship.

“I am currently training hard to be ready to face one of the top contenders in the Mauy Thai discipline.

“With the help of my coach we are currently focusing on getting me ready to fight in this discipline,” Nathi says with a smile.

Nathi adds that it is great to have Mark Hey as his trainer.

“Since I started my professional career, I had 26 fights of which I won 23 and lost only three.

“This makes me an officially top ranked contender in the world according to the World Kickboxing Federation,” says Nathi.

Although Nathi is originally from Diepsloot, he and Mark relocated to Randfontein as they had grown fond of the town.

According to Mark, they are currently preparing for Nathi’s next fight.

Seeing that Mark and Nathi are now part of the Fitstop Gymnasium team, all Nath’is training is done at the gym.

“We take this fight very seriously and we train as if we are about to face Mike Tyson.

“That way we are ready for anything,” says Mark.