Feldman, a native of Cape Town, is 6-0 with 3 KOs. He last fought back in February against Jonas Senga, the toughest test of Feldman's career to date. The fight was the first time he had gone as many as six rounds. A southpaw, Feldman is a developing a reputation as a skilled and athletic boxer. He can bang when necessary and has a good chin but is at his best when he can control the action from the outside.
Ntombela is a 32 year old from the coal mining town of Newcastle in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal. A squat, muscular welterweight, he doesn't have the best record at 4-11 (3 KOs) and has been stopped in 8 of his 11 losses. But he is considerably better than his record suggests. He has often been in tough as the B-side with eight of his losses coming against fighters with a winning record. He has also done well in fights he ultimately lost by KO.
Ntombela began his pro career in 2017 and was 3-2 before he racked up a string of losses. His knockout losses have almost all come late fights. He has shown an ability to withstand trouble early, but his punch resistance wanes as the fight progresses. Against Lybon Ntshani, a fight that Feldman's trainer Colin Nathan broadcasted, Ntombela was rocked in the first, dominated the next few rounds until a left hook in the fifth scrambled his senses and the fight was mercifully stopped.
Ntombela took his next fight, against Jacques Mavud, on short notice and was out of shape, spending much of the fight moving on the perimeter until body shots by Mavud ended the fight in the fifth. He next fought Wassim Chellan by boxing and moving. He survived a third round knockdown and finished the six-round fight strong, but lost by unanimous decision.
In 2023, Feldman and his friend and fellow boxer Doron Zinman watched from the balcony at Booysens Boxing Club as Ntombela pressed the action against a tall, slender southpaw named Aaron Muteba. Muteba countered well, and got the knockout in the fourth round with an uppercut which he set up with lots of well-placed body shots. Last year, Ntombela was competitive against prospect Almighty Creed Moyo in several rounds. Moyo, who had Nathan in his corner, went to the body and eventually wore down the journeyman, setting up a head shot for the knockout.
Ntombela has average handspeed and good power. Although the results suggest otherwise, he has improved a lot in recent fights. He used to circle into the opponent's backhand, but his movement is now less predictable. He doesn't throw many jabs and lunges when he does let it go, but he seems to have mostly corrected a flaw where his right hand moved away from his face as he jabbed. He likes to use the left hook and has a powerful overhand right.
Feldman, who was convinced to work with strength and conditioning coach Ignatius Loubser for this camp by Zinman, sparred with Boyd Allen. Of Ntombela, Feldman told SA Boxing Talk, "He's a come-forward fighter. You could call him a journeyman, but I know he's going to be game and comes to fight."
Though he hasn't always done so, Ntombela will likely press forward, so Feldman could counter and dig to the body. The uppercut may be the ticket as Ntombela has a bad habit of bringing his head in front of his lead foot.
"I want to make a statement this fight," Feldman said, "and these guys, even though they might be tough, they're not on my level. I feel like once I stop this guy, I'm going to be ready for an eight-rounder and soon to be a ten-rounder."
Feldman-Notmbela is scheduled for six rounds.
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