BOXING: Undefeated for more than a decade, Moruti Mthalane chases greatness in the final stage of his storied career By Jonah Dylan
It’s safe to say that no one really cared when Moruti Mthalane turned pro as a 19-year-old kid in 2000. Even the people who follow amateur boxing closely, who are always looking for future world champions, well, they probably didn’t even know his name.
He started boxing when he was 13, tagging along with his brothers and cousins to train with his uncle in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. He soon joined them at amateur tournaments, not to build towards a future career, but simply because he enjoyed it. South African professional boxer Moruti Mthalane. Mthalane smiles after a training session. The International Boxing Federation world titleholder will defend his belt Monday against Masayuki Kuroda. Photo supplied by Colin Nathan
On fight night, Donaire started fast — his nickname, after all, is “Filipino Flash”. After the first couple rounds, though, Mthalane started to find his footing and technique against the Filipino champion, and the action started to pick up. Tete was destined for great things in boxing — just not on that night in Johannesburg. After a quick start, Mthalane systematically broke down the younger challenger and stopped him in the fifth round. Almost nine years later, Tete is a two-division world champion and currently holds the WBO bantamweight world title.It helped jumpstart Mthalane’s rise, too, and he next knocked out Johnriel Casimero — also a future world champion — en route to a streak of four title defences.
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