Zolani Tete
Zolani Tete | |
---|---|
Statistics | |
Nickname(s) | Last Born |
Weight(s) |
|
Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) |
Reach | 72 in (183 cm) |
Nationality | South African |
Born | Eastern Cape, South Africa | 8 March 1988
Stance | Southpaw |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 32 |
Wins | 28 |
Wins by KO | 21 |
Losses | 4 |
Zolani Tete (born 8 March 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He is a former two-weight world champion, having held the IBF junior-bantamweight title from 2014 to 2015 and the WBO bantamweight title from 2017 to 2019.
Early life and amateur career[]
Tete grew up in the Mdantsane township. He had a rough childhood. His father was a pastor. Him and his brother, Makazole, took up boxing when Zolani was eight. Tete looked up to South African former world champions Vuyani Bungu and Welcome Ncita while in the unpaid ranks. Tete would later be trained by Bungu. He claims to have over 400 amateur fights, only three of which were losses.[1]
Professional career[]
Flyweight[]
Tete made his professional debut on May 2006. He won his first 8 fights by stoppage. In his eighth bout he won the WBF flyweight title, which he defended twice. Tete earned a shot at a major world title for the first time, beating Richard Garcia in a title eliminator by unanimous decision (118-108, 118-108, 118-110).[2] Tete went on to face Moruti Mthalane for the IBF flyweight title, suffering his first loss with a round 5 technical knockout (TKO).
Junior bantamweight[]
After the loss to Mthalane, Tete moved up to junior-bantamweight. He received another opportunity to fight in an IBF eliminator, but lost a majority decision (112–115, 112–115, 113–113) to Juan Alberto Rosas. After a bounce-back win, Tete fought in yet another eliminator but lost by split decision (113–115, 114–115, 115–114) to Roberto Sosa. Tete seem to befuddle Sosa with his length early on, but as the fight went on Sosa surged and earned the nod. Sosa received a warning due to low blows but there was no point deductions.[3]
On November 2013, Tete would fight in a third IBF junior-bantamweight eliminator against former champion Juan Carlos Sánchez Jr.. Sánchez had lost the IBF title due to coming in overweight against Sosa, thus leaving the title vacant after beating Sosa. The winner would be the IBF's mandatory challenger to the winner of the Liborio Solís-Daiki Kameda unification bout. Tete knocked down Sánchez in round five before being dropped himself in round six. After being knocked down, Tete resorted to excessive holding, losing points in rounds eight and nine. However, he was able to put Sánchez away in round ten.[4]
Solís would beat Kameda, but he also lost his title on the scales, leaving the IBF title vacant. Tete would face Teiru Kinoshita on July 2014 for the vacant title, winning a comfortable unanimous decision (119–109, 119–109, 118–110).[5] After one successful defence, he chose to vacate the title rather than fight mandatory challenger McJoe Arroyo.[6] Tete went on to sign with British promoter Frank Warren on December 2015.[7]
Bantamweight[]
Tete made his bantamweight debut in 2016. In his third fight at the weight, Tete claimed the WBO interim by beating Arthur Villanueva. Tete won a wide unanimous decision (120–107, 119–108, 119–108), dropping Villanueva in round eleven.[8] Tete was later elevated to full champion by the WBO.[9]
Tete vs. Narvaez[]
On April 21, 2018, Tete defended his WBO belt against Omar Narvaez, who was WBO #1 ranked contender at the time.[10] In a highly unexciting bout, Tete still manage to get a unanimous decision victory, winning 120-108 on all three scorecards.
Tete vs. Aloyan[]
In his next title defense, Tete faced Mikhail Aloyan, ranked #5 by the WBA and #6 by the WBO. Tete won the fight on all three scorecards, 114-111, 114-111 and 114-110.[11]
Tete vs. Casimero[]
In his next bout, Tete fought former world champion John Riel Casimero. Casimero dropped Tete twice before the referee waved the fight off in the third round and awarded Casimero the TKO win.[12]
Professional boxing record[]
32 fights | 28 wins | 4 losses |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 21 | 2 |
By decision | 7 | 2 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
32 | Loss | 28–4 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (12), 2:14 | 30 Nov 2019 | ![]() |
Lost WBO bantamweight title |
31 | Win | 28–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 13 Oct 2018 | ![]() |
Retained WBO bantamweight title; World Boxing Super Series: bantamweight quarter-final |
30 | Win | 27–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 21 Apr 2018 | ![]() |
Retained WBO bantamweight title |
29 | Win | 26–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (12), 0:11 | 18 Nov 2017 | ![]() |
Retained WBO bantamweight title |
28 | Win | 25–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 22 Apr 2017 | ![]() |
Won WBO interim bantamweight title |
27 | Win | 24–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 7 (12), 0:50 | 4 Jun 2016 | ![]() |
Won IBF International bantamweight title |
26 | Win | 23–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 7 (12), 2:37 | 12 Mar 2016 | ![]() |
|
25 | Win | 22–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 19 Dec 2015 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBO Africa junior-bantamweight title |
24 | Win | 21–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (10), 1:52 | 4 Sep 2015 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 20–3 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (12), 1:34 | 6 Mar 2015 | ![]() |
Retained IBF junior-bantamweight title |
22 | Win | 19–3 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 18 Jul 2014 | ![]() |
Won vacant IBF junior-bantamweight title |
21 | Win | 18–3 | ![]() |
KO | 10 (12), 2:43 | 30 Nov 2013 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 17–3 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8), 2:37 | 23 Mar 2013 | ![]() |
|
19 | Loss | 16–3 | ![]() |
SD | 12 | 1 Sep 2012 | ![]() |
|
18 | Win | 16–2 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8), 0:34 | 30 Mar 2012 | ![]() |
|
17 | Loss | 15–2 | ![]() |
MD | 12 | 26 Nov 2011 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 15–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 7 (8), 2:24 | 11 Jun 2011 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 14–1 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8), 2:20 | 17 Dec 2010 | ![]() |
|
14 | Loss | 13–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (12), 2:27 | 1 Sep 2010 | ![]() |
For IBF flyweight title |
13 | Win | 13–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 26 Feb 2010 | ![]() |
|
12 | Win | 12–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (12), 2:38 | 20 Nov 2009 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBO Africa flyweight title |
11 | Win | 11–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (10), 0:28 | 29 Mar 2009 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 10–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (12), 2:24 | 29 Jun 2008 | ![]() |
Retained WBF flyweight title |
9 | Win | 9–0 | ![]() |
UD | 12 | 30 Mar 2008 | ![]() |
Retained WBF flyweight title |
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
RTD | 4 (12), 3:00 | 23 Sep 2007 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBF flyweight title |
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (6) | 1 Apr 2007 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (6), 1:30 | 4 Mar 2007 | ![]() |
|
5 | Win | 5–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (6) | 9 Dec 2006 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (6), 1:44 | 7 Oct 2006 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (6), 0:10 | 19 Aug 2006 | ![]() |
|
2 | Win | 2–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (4), 0:52 | 22 Jul 2006 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (4), 1:39 | 27 May 2006 | ![]() |
See also[]
- List of super-flyweight boxing champions
- List of bantamweight boxing champions
References[]
- ^ "Zolani Tete: It'll be my name on their mouths!". 11 March 2016.
- ^ "Zolani Tete Decisions Richard Garcia in IBF Eliminator".
- ^ "Roberto Sosa Rides Late Surge to Win over Zolani Tete".
- ^ "Zolani Tete Stops Juan Carlos Sanchez in Ten".
- ^ "Kinoshita falls to Tete in title bout". 18 July 2014.
- ^ "McJoe Arroyo to face Arthur Villanueva for vacant IBF super flyweight belt". Fightnews.com. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ http://www.boxnation.com/boxing-news/zolani-tete-signs-with-frank-warren/
- ^ https://www.rappler.com/sports/by-sport/boxing-mma/167687-arthur-villanueva-zolani-tete-recap
- ^ "Zolani Tete is Now Elevated to FULL WBO Bantamweight Champion".
- ^ "Tete vs Narvaez - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ "Tete vs Aloyan - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ "John Riel Casimero knocks out Zolani Tete in 3, wins WBO bantamweight title". The Ring. 2019-11-30. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
External links[]
- 1988 births
- Living people
- Super-flyweight boxers
- Flyweight boxers
- Bantamweight boxers
- South African male boxers
- People from the Eastern Cape
- World super-flyweight boxing champions
- World bantamweight boxing champions
- International Boxing Federation champions
- World Boxing Organization champions