Tete becomes new world champion while on a flight from England to SA

In a weekend drenched in tears following the death of his former trainer Nick Durandt‚ Zolani Tete became the dual world champion while on a flight from England to South Africa.

Tete became probably the first - ever boxer in the world to be crowned world champion whilst up in the clouds and he landed in Johannesburg on Monday morning on top of the world.

This after beating Arthur Villanueva of the Philippines in a fight that was upgraded to a WBO interim World bantamweight title clash at Leicester Arena on Saturday night.

The fight was originally scheduled as an eliminator to the title fight until a series of dramatic developments played out at the weekend.

First‚ Tete beat Villanueva and handed him his second loss in 32 bouts as he won every round to capture the interim title.

• Tete locked and loaded for his showdown with "The King"Zolani “Last Born” Tete prefers to let his fists do the talking‚ which explained why he kept his sentences short and simple a couple of days ago. 

The interim title was created after WBO champion Marlon Tapales‚ also of the Philippines‚ failed to make the weight for his voluntary title defence against Japanese Shohei Omori on the same day of the Tete-Villanueva fight.

After dedicating his win to the late Durandt‚ who died in a motorcycle accident a day earlier‚ Tete found himself returning home as a fully-fledged champion.

When Tapales could not make the weight the title became vacant and the Japanese would have been eligible to win it if he had beat the Filipino‚ failing which Tete would be elevated to full champion status.

But the Mdantsane boxer did not know about the outcome of the fight in Japan as he was still on board from Birmingham to Dubai where he was to catch a connecting flight back home.

“Please send us a message to update us about the Tapales fight. We are holding a collective prayer that he wins in order for us to be champions‚” said Tete’s manager Mla Tengimfene to Times Media Digital before boarding the flight.

With the country gripped in suspense combined with a sombre atmosphere following Durandt’s death‚ Tapales rallied to stop Omori in the 11th round on Sunday to hand Tete the belt on a silver platter.

• Boxing SA aware of the impact a Tete win in London may have for the sport in SABoxing South Africa chief executive Tsholo Lejaka said the time for South African boxers to swim with the sharks has arrived. 

But the Tete team had no idea that he was now a world champion as he was still on board the flight back to SA.

The dramatic developments could not have been scripted better even by the best movie director.

When the Tete camp took a connecting flight in Dubai to SA‚ Tengimfene quickly called Times Media Digital to find out about the result from Japan.

When told that Tete was now a world champion owing to Tapales’ win‚ Tengimfene remarked: “Are you sure‚ my bra? Please do not pull a fast one on us.”

Zolani then demanded the phone to be handed to him to confirm the news.

When informed that he was now a world champion he could not conceal his delight.

“I think I am dreaming‚" Tete said.

"Please do not wake me up because this is an incredible dream.

"To get into a flight as an interim champion and get out of it as a champion without getting into the ring is nothing short of a miracle. This shows that Nick's spirit is with me.”

• No SA trainer came close to Nick Durandt's list of boxing championsNick “Mthakathi” Durandt‚ who died at the age of 53 in a motorbike accident on Friday‚ produced more champions than any other trainer in the history of South African boxing. 

Tete moves into an ensconced status of being one the very few boxers in the land to win world titles of two major world bodies in two different divisions.

This after he first won the IBF junior bantamweight title which he later vacated.

The Tete team will arrive in East London at 4:30 pm on Monday afternoon in what promises to be the biggest reception ever.

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport