Former two-weight world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. He was 38.
Police said Tete was arriving at his residence on Friday and waiting for the gate to open when he was ambushed by two armed suspects wearing balaclavas, who got out of a vehicle and fired multiple shots at his car.
A 27-year-old woman travelling with him was shot several times and remains in hospital. The two suspects fled the scene, and a major investigation has been launched. No motive has been established.
South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed the death. “South Africa has lost one of the finest fighters it has ever produced,” he said.
A career built on speed
Tete won the IBF title at 115lb in 2014, beating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita — a belt Al Jazeera reports as junior-bantamweight and Daily Mirror as super-flyweight, two names for the same division. He went on to hold the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019, and had earlier been WBF flyweight champion from 2007 to 2008.
He is best remembered for an 11-second stoppage of fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in 2017 — recognised as the fastest knockout in a world title fight and listed as a Guinness World Record.
Tete fought in the United Kingdom eight times, including a 2015 win over Liverpool’s Paul Butler. He finished with 29 wins from 34 fights, 22 of them by knockout, against four defeats and one no-contest.
Ban had just expired
His last bout was in July 2022, when he knocked out Britain’s Jason Cunningham at London’s Wembley Arena. The result was later overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, and UK Anti-Doping handed him a four-year ban.
That suspension ended on July 29 this year. His manager, Mlandeli Tengimfene, said Tete had been training for a comeback fight.
Tributes came from across the division. Japan’s Naoya Inoue called him a “wonderful boxer,” adding: “I hope the world is peaceful. And please, rest in peace.” John Riel Casimero, who took the WBO bantamweight belt from Tete in November 2019, said he was shocked and heartbroken. “We shared the canvas and pushed each other to be our absolute best inside the squared ring. A true warrior and champion,” he said.
