Zolani Tete, the two-time world boxing champion who scored the fastest knockout in a world title fight, was shot and killed outside of his home Friday. He was 38.Tete, nicknamed “Last Born,” was killed in Mdantsane, a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, the Republic of South Africa confirmed. According to a news release from the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture of South Africa, Tete was in a car with a 27-year-old woman waiting for the gate to open at his home when two masked gunmen shot at him and the woman. The woman, per the release, was shot multiple times and hospitalized.Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie said the South African Police Service is investigating the death.“There are no words I can offer tonight that will be equal to what you have lost,” McKenzie wrote in a statement directed to Tete’s family. “Your son’s name will not be treated lightly by this country, and my department and I are at your disposal in the days ahead, whatever way is useful to you.”
McKenzie called on the South African community to come forward with any relevant information regarding the incident.“Somebody in that community knows who did this,” McKenzie said.Tete, who was a champion in the IBF junior-bantamweight and WBO bantamweight divisions, was training to return to the ring, according to the release. He received a four-year ban from the UK Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol following his knockout win over Jason Cunningham in July 2022. His win was changed to a no-contest, and his suspension ended in July 2026.“He still believed he had something to give to the sport,” McKenzie wrote. “He was right, but he will not get the chance now. … He, and all of us, have been robbed.”World Boxing posted a tribute on social media. John Riel Casimero, a Filipino boxer who took the WBO bantamweight title from Tete in November 2018, said he was “shocked and heartbroken” to hear about Tete’s death.“We shared the canvas and pushed each other to be our absolute best inside the squared ring,” Casimero posted on X. “A true warrior and champion. Rest in peace, champ. Prayers with your family and loved ones.”Tete is most recognized for his Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a world title fight. In 2017, he stunned fellow South African boxer Siboniso Gonya with a one-punch, 11-second knockout — a mark that remains the record.Tete began his rise in international boxing in 2014, when he won his first world title and captured the IBF junior bantamweight belt in Kobe, Japan. Tete secured a 12-round unanimous decision win over Teiru Kinoshita in dominating fashion. He defended that title a year later with a technical knockout of Liverpool’s Paul Butler on British soil.Tete moved up to the bantamweight division in 2017 and won the WBO interim bantamweight title against Arthur Villanueva. He later became a full champion and defended that belt three times between 2017 and 2019. He finished with a 29-4 record with one no-contest.
