SAEDNEWS: Former two-division world champion Zolani Tete was killed in an armed attack in Mdantsane, South Africa, at the age of 38. The boxer had been preparing to return to the ring after completing a four-year ban.
According to SaedNews: Former world boxing champion Zolani Tete was killed in an armed attack in Mdantsane, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. The 38-year-old boxer was targeted by two masked gunmen as he arrived at his home.
According to Eastern Cape police, the shooting happened on Friday evening at around 6:30 p.m. Tete was sitting inside his vehicle, waiting for the gate to his residence to open, with a 27-year-old woman also in the car.
Police spokesperson Nobuntu Gantana said two unidentified armed men wearing masks got out of a vehicle and opened fire on the pair. Tete drove into the property in an attempt to escape the gunfire, but he suffered serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman accompanying him was also struck by several bullets and was taken to hospital immediately. She remains under medical treatment.
Tete was a prominent figure in South African boxing and had won world titles in two weight classes. He held the WBF flyweight title from 2007 to 2008 and later became WBO bantamweight champion from 2017 to 2019.
He also held a Guinness World Records mark for the fastest knockout in a world championship boxing fight. In 2017, Tete stopped Siboniso Gonya just 11 seconds after the bout began.
Tete’s final fight came in July 2022 against Britain’s Jason Cunningham. He initially won by knockout in the fourth round, but the result was later changed to a no-contest after Tete tested positive for the banned substance stanozolol. His four-year boxing suspension ended in July 2026, and he had been on the verge of returning to the ring before the fatal attack ended his life.
