Biography and career
Ngimbi was born in Kinshasa the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was born with a weak heart which doctors felt would make it hard for him to survive his first year. He spent his childhood in the African country but his family was forced to leave when he was 11 years old due to the civil war and the fact that his father had served in the political party of the recently ousted president Mobutu Sese Seko. Ngimbi relocated to the Netherlands and was a keen footballer in his teenage years and tipped to do well but decided to focus on kickboxing after making his amateur debut at 18 in Eindhoven representing the Duran Gym. He would later switch to the Calmaro gym in Helmond after his second B-Klass match with a fighting record of 12 wins and 1 loss. - [1] [2]
After fighting on the local scene for several years, Ngimbi was invited as a member of a Dutch team that would participate in a W.K.A. event in New York City. Due to an impressive knockout of his opponent he would be invited back to the states the following year to contest against Atlanta based Thai Khunpon Dechkampu for the W.K.A. intercontinental title, in what would be the first of a number of title fights on American soil. Ngimbi was successful on his return visit to the United States, winning the belt via KO and as winner of the intercontinental belt Ngimbi would get a shot at the W.K.A. world title in 2007, losing to Shane Campbell in their first match in Richmond, only to win the rematch six months later to claim his first world title. [3]
In between trips across the Atlantic Ngimbi would have a number of fights in the Netherlands, defeating useful fighters such as Ray Staring, Kit Sitpholek and William Diender – the latter in the K-1 MAX Netherlands 2008 tournament in which he made the semi-finals only to lose to eventual winner Warren Stevelmans (who he had beaten back in 2006). [4] He also made his debut with the It's Showtime organization defeating English fighter Rick Barnhill in Alkmaar. [5] In February 2009 Ngimbi had another attempt to qualify for the K-1 MAX via a regional event in Utrecht but lost at the quarter-final stage to Marco Piqué. This decision was modified after protest from Ngimbi's corner. In May 2009 after the fight against Schneidmiller in the Amsterdam Arena he left the Calmaro gym to join Siam Gym in Valkenswaard. The switch had led to victories against fighters as Chahid Oulad el Hadj and Hafid el Boustati.
In 2010, Ngimbi's record with the It's Showtime organization (4 wins, 2 losses) led to the organization inviting him to challenge two time It's Showtime champion Murat Direkçi for his world title belt in Athens at the end of the year. As the underdog, few expected the African Warrior to triumph but he pulled off a fifth round upset decision win against Direkçi to become the new It's Showtime 70MAX world champion. [6] Ngimbi retained his It's Showtime 70MAX world title at the It's Showtime 2011 Lyon event, outclassing local fighter Willy Borrel on way to a trademark flying knee KO victory.
In December 2011, Ngimbi shocked the kickboxing world when he stated that he will make one more defence of his belt, against Andy Souwer in June 2012, and then retire. He lost the fight, but came back to his decision to retire so he can participate on the K-1 World Max. [7]
He was stopped by Artur Kyshenko in round two at the quarter-finals of the K-1 World MAX 2012 World Championship Tournament Final in Athens, Greece on December 15, 2012. [8] [9]
Ngimbi Took a break from kickboxing in 2013 and came back stronger in 2014 fighting for the biggest organisations in Asia like Kunlun Fight, W5 Professional Kickboxing and the current number 1 biggest media property in martial arts, ONE Championship. Besides he will go on to conquer one more belt in 2016 to become the SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship World Champion.
As of 2017 Ngimbi moved to Belgium where he opened the gym Ngimbi Sports Academy in 2019 and is preparing the next generation kickboxers for the big stage.
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