Former world boxing champion Zolani Tete was shot dead outside his home in Mdantsane, South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, on Friday, police and the country’s sports minister said.
The 38-year-old boxer was arriving at his residence when two armed men wearing balaclavas got out of a vehicle and opened fire, according to police.
A 27-year-old woman travelling with Tete was also shot multiple times and taken to hospital. Police have opened an investigation, while the motive remains unknown.
Tete, nicknamed “Last Born,” won the International Boxing Federation junior-bantamweight world title in 2014 after defeating Japan’s Teiru Kinoshita in Kobe.
He later captured the World Boxing Organisation bantamweight title during a career that made him one of the prominent fighters produced by Mdantsane.
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Tete also held a notable boxing record, having stopped fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in 11 seconds in Belfast in November 2017.
