Former world champion boxer Zolani Tete has been shot and killed at his home in South Africa.

Axar.az informs, citing Al Jazeera, that Gayton McKenzie, South Africa’s sports, arts and culture minister, said late on Friday that the 38-year-old Tete was killed in his car and that a 27-year-old woman who was in the vehicle with him was shot multiple times and is in hospital.

Police said the shooting took place in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape and that Tete was arriving at his residence and waiting for the gate to open when he was ambushed by two armed suspects wearing balaclavas.

It should be noted that Zolani Tete was the IBF world champion in the second bantamweight division in 2014–2015. From 2017 to 2019, he held the WBO bantamweight world title. Tete holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest knockout in a world title fight — 11 seconds, achieved against Siboniso Gonya in 2017 while defending his WBO title.

In 2022, following his victory over Jason Cunningham, Tete failed a doping test and was suspended for four years until the end of July 2026. In recent months, Tete had been preparing to return to the ring.