Former two-time world boxing champion Zolani Tete was shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, South Africa, on Friday, August 21. Police said the 38-year-old former boxing champion had just arrived at his house and was sitting in his car waiting for the gate to open when two armed men wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and fired multiple shots at him.
Details of the Ambush
A 27-year-old woman who was in the car with him was also struck and was taken to hospital, BBC Sport reports. The two suspects fled immediately after the attack. South Africa's Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, confirmed the killing and said: "South Africa has lost one of the finest fighters it has ever produced." A major investigation has been launched, though police said the motive remains unclear.
Boxing Career and World Records
Tete held the WBO bantamweight title between 2017 and 2019, and the IBF super-flyweight title in 2014, The Guardian reports. He also won the WBF flyweight title from 2007 to 2008. Across 34 professional bouts, he recorded 29 victories, four losses, and one no-contest.
Tete is perhaps best remembered internationally for knocking out fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in just 11 seconds during a title fight in Belfast in November 2017, a feat that earned him a Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a world title fight. Among his other notable wins was a victory over Liverpool's Paul Butler at the Echo Arena in 2015.
Comeback Plans and Impact
His last outing in the ring came in July 2022, when he stopped British fighter Jason Cunningham by knockout in London. However, the result was later changed to a no-contest after Tete tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol. The UK Anti-Doping Agency handed him a four-year ban. That suspension officially ended on July 29, 2026, and his manager, Mla Tengimfene, confirmed after his death that Tete had been in training and preparing for a comeback fight.
The killing has drawn renewed focus on violent crime in South Africa, which continues to record one of the highest murder rates in the world, despite officials reporting a recent downward trend in such figures.
