Moruti Mthalane was born on 6 October 1982 and is a South African former professional boxer.
28 Facts About Moruti Mthalane
1.
2.
Moruti Mthalane is a two-time IBF flyweight champion, having held the title between 2009 and 2021.
3.
Moruti Mthalane held the IBO flyweight title from 2014 to 2017.
4.
On 5 July 2009, Mthalane's promoter Branco Milenkovic revealed that Mthalane was designated by the IBF as the mandatory challenger for Nonito Donaire IBF flyweight title.
5.
Moruti Mthalane became the third South African fighter in 2009 to win a major IBF title.
6.
Moruti Mthalane won the fight by knockout, stopping Tete at the 2:27 minute mark of the fifth round.
7.
Moruti Mthalane made his second IBF title defense against Johnriel Casimero on 26 March 2011 at the Nasrec Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.
8.
Moruti Mthalane was scheduled to make his third title defense against Andrea Sarritzu on 28 October 2011.
9.
Moruti Mthalane stopped the 35-year-old Sardinian by a seventh-round technical knockout, after Sarritzu's corner threw in the towel.
10.
On 1 June 2012, the IBF ordered Moruti Mthalane to defend his title against Ricardo Nunez, giving the two camps a 30-day negotiation period to come to terms.
11.
Moruti Mthalane had a great start to the fight, as he managed to knock Nunez down in the second minute of the first round.
12.
Moruti Mthalane rallied back in the from that point forward, before finally stopping Nunez in the eight round.
13.
Moruti Mthalane was stripped of the IBF title in January 2014, after failing to come to terms with mandatory challenger Amnat Ruenroeng.
14.
Moruti Mthalane made his first IBO flyweight title defense against Odilon Zaleta on 26 October 2014 at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa.
15.
Moruti Mthalane was scheduled to defend his IBO flyweight title for the second time against Renz Rosia on 15 December 2015, at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa.
16.
Moruti Mthalane won the fight by a ninth-round stoppage, as Rosia refused to come out of his corner for the tenth round.
17.
Moruti Mthalane faced Genisis Libranza in his third IBO title defense on 28 April 2017, following a near-17-month hiatus from boxing.
18.
Moruti Mthalane won the fight by a fourth-round knockout, stopping Libranza with a body shot.
19.
Moruti Mthalane faced Isaac Quaye in a ten-round non-title bout on 24 September 2017.
20.
Moruti Mthalane won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.
21.
Moruti Mthalane was instead scheduled to face Muhammad Waseem at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
22.
Moruti Mthalane faced most difficulty in the sixth round, after being knocked down by Waseem, but managed to recover sufficiently to edge out the bout in his favor.
23.
Moruti Mthalane made his first IBF title defense of his second reign against Masahiro Sakamoto on 31 December 2018 at the Wynn Palace in Macau.
24.
Moruti Mthalane made his second title defense against Masayuki Kuroda, who was at the time ranked as the ninth best flyweight in the world by The Ring, on 13 May 2019 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
25.
Moruti Mthalane was scheduled to make his third title defense against the former WBC, Ring, and lineal flyweight champion Akira Yaegashi on 23 December 2019 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.
26.
Moruti Mthalane won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout, with CompuBox recording 1200 punches thrown.
27.
Moruti Mthalane began to take over from the seventh round onward, finally stopping his opponent with a flurry near the end of the ninth round.
28.
Moruti Mthalane was scheduled to make his fourth title defense against Sunny Edwards on 30 April 2021,16 months from his last fight, at the York Hall in London, England.