Former world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, South Africa, after being ambushed by two armed men.
The 38-year-old fighter was arriving at his residence in the Eastern Cape province and waiting for his security gate to open on Friday when attackers wearing balaclavas stepped out of a vehicle and opened fire, police said.
A 27-year-old woman travelling with Tete was shot multiple times during the ambush and taken to hospital. South Africa's Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie confirmed the boxer's death on Friday.
McKenzie declined to speculate on potential motives behind the killing, saying: "I will not speculate about who did this or why." Police have opened an investigation into the shooting, and the motive remains unclear.
Record-breaking career in the ring
Tete, who fought under the nickname "Last Born", achieved global boxing prominence as a two-weight world champion. He is best remembered for delivering an 11-second knockout against fellow South African fighter Siboniso Gonya in Belfast in November 2017.
That victory remains the fastest knockout recorded in world title fight history. The lightning win came during a defence of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight crown, a belt Tete claimed earlier in 2017 and held until 2019.
The southpaw won his first major world title in the junior-bantamweight division, capturing the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt by defeating Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe, Japan, in 2014. Earlier in his career, he had held the minor World Boxing Federation (WBF) flyweight title.
British fights and ring return plans
British fight fans came to know Tete well following a series of bouts in the United Kingdom. He stopped Liverpool's Paul Butler at the city's Echo Arena in 2015 and returned to the same venue a year later to stop Victor Ruiz.
His overall professional boxing record stands at 29 victories, including 22 by knockout, four losses and one no contest.
The fatal shooting came just weeks after Tete completed a four-year doping ban. He had been suspended after testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol following his 2022 fight against Jason Cunningham. His suspension ended on July 29, and he had been planning a return to professional boxing.
Impact on South African boxing
The killing will focus renewed attention on violent crime in South Africa. The nation continues to report one of the highest murder rates in the world, despite recent figures showing a decline in homicides.
The news has caused deep grief in Mdantsane, a township in the Eastern Cape that has traditionally served as a hotbed for South African boxing, producing several of the country's top world champions.
