He was no more than 13 years old when his childhood friend Phathu slumped over in his arms, his eyes rolling back in their sockets with life escaping him.

A bullet had passed through his neck and out the back of his skull during a street protest as shots rang out from police rifles trained on teenagers protesting the takeover of schools on the dusty streets of South African town Musina.

"It never leaves you, it's something you have to live with forever," the said.

"It wasn't just police brutality, it was also the issue of black on black crime. Necklacing - where they would put a tyre on someone's neck, pour petrol on it and light it up, it would burn someone to death. I had to witness those things as a child.

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"Those are things you have to deal with for the rest of your life. It didn't stop me, I went onto become a world champion, I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and now I am a lawyer.

"I have witnessed atrocities committed against my family and my community. I have been a victim of police brutality. I have seen friends die. Against all odds, I succeeded."

Now Ndou has penned his life story in a stirring autobiography titled Tough Love, in the hope it can inspire someone to make their dreams come true.

Ndou came from a poor family. When he says poor, he means there were days he went by without a meal. He didn't go to school until the age of nine. His mother had something of an education, his father had nothing.

If not for boxing, a sport he was coaxed into after getting into reckless fights on soccer fields, Ndou says he would probably be dead. Instead he finds himself operating a legal practice in the heart of Rockdale, Lovemore Lawyers.

He does so with a slew of university degrees which, in truth, far outweigh the importance of the three world titles he won during a 19-year, 64-fight professional career which led him from South Africa in the wake of apartheid to his new home in Australia.

Today the squared circle is something of a distant memory. Now Ndou is "fighting the good fight". He harbours dreams of returning to his home country for a career in politics, adamant South Africa "needs people like me, someone who can bring changes".

"When I was 16 I was incarcerated for allegedly having sexual relations with a white girl during a time when it was forbidden in South Africa. I was assaulted by police, they almost killed me.

"I carry a scar on my face, they set a dog on me and it bit my face. People think the scar is from boxing, but this one is from a dog bite.

"I remember when I was recovering in hospital, it crossed my mind that 'one day I want to be a lawyer or a politician, I want to fight for justice'.

"Every time I would graduate, I always felt something was missing. I always wished my parents were still alive and could see what I've become.

"My parents were not educated, but they believed in education. Every time I graduate, I always wish they were there to see me graduate. I still believe, wherever they are, I've made them so proud."

Ndou spends the best part of an hour recounting his life and boxing career, where he began as an outsider in his home country. Had he fought a white man during apartheid, all the opponent needed to do was stay on his feet to earn a decision victory.

He first came to Australia in 1995 for a fight against Cliff Samardin at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, a card headlined by Kostya Tszyu's IBF super lightweight title fight with Roger Mayweather.

For the first time he felt like an equal. Ndou knew then he had to escape a country torn apart by racial discrimination, and a year later Australia would become his home.

"I needed to be somebody, and I knew through sport I was going to be able to become somebody. I don't regret it today," Ndou said.

"If it wasn't for boxing, I wouldn't be educated. If it wasn't for boxing, I wouldn't be a lawyer. If it wasn't for boxing, I wouldn't be able to write this book. If it wasn't for boxing, I wouldn't be talking to you right now.

"It doesn't matter whether you had a fair or hard start in life. You can make your dream come true."

Tough Love by Lovemore Ndou, New Holland Publishers, $32.99 RRP, available from all good book stores or online www.newhollandpublishers.com.