Former world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, South Africa, at the age of 38.
Tete, known by his nickname “Last Born,” was arriving at his residence in the Eastern Cape when two armed men wearing balaclavas reportedly approached in a vehicle and opened fire as he waited for the gate to open, police said.
A 27-year-old woman travelling with Tete was also shot multiple times and taken to hospital, according to South Africa’s Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, who confirmed the boxer’s death on Friday.
“I will not speculate about who did this or why,” McKenzie said.
Police have launched an investigation, but the motive for the shooting remains unclear.
Tete was one of South Africa’s most accomplished boxers and is best remembered for producing one of the fastest knockouts in world title fight history.
In November 2017, he stopped fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in just 11 seconds in Belfast, Northern Ireland, while defending his WBO bantamweight title. The victory remains the fastest stoppage in a world championship fight.
A southpaw, Tete first captured a world title at junior-bantamweight when he defeated Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe in 2014 to win the IBF belt. Earlier in his career, he had also held the minor WBF flyweight title.
His death comes only weeks after the end of a four-year doping suspension. Tete was banned after testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol following his 2022 bout with Jason Cunningham.
The suspension ended on July 29, and Tete had been planning a return to professional boxing.
His death has sent shockwaves through the South African boxing community, cutting short the career of a fighter who had risen from the Eastern Cape to become a two-weight world champion.
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