Moruti Mthalane (born 6 October 1982) is a South African former professional boxer. He is a two-time IBF flyweight champion, having held the title between 2009 and 2021. He also held the IBO flyweight title from 2014 to 2017.

Professional career

First IBF flyweight title reign

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. Before the terms of the fight could be negotiated however, Donaire vacated the title and moved up to super flyweight. Accordingly, the IBF ordered a fight between Eric Ortiz and Julio Cesar Miranda to determine who would fight Mthalane for the vacant title,^[2] with Miranda winning by a first-round knockout. The fight for the vacant world title was scheduled for 20 November 2009, and was held at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa.^[3] Mthalane won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 117-111, 117-111 and 118-111. He became the third South African fighter in 2009 to win a major IBF title.^[4]

On 1 March 2010, Zolani Tete was designated as the IBF flyweight mandatory title challenger after defeating Richard Garcia by unanimous decision in an IBF flyweight title eliminator.^[5] The IBF flyweight world title fight between Mthalane and Tete was scheduled for 1 September 2010, at the Carnival City in Brakpan, South Africa. Mthalane won the fight by knockout, stopping Tete at the 2:27 minute mark of the fifth round.^[6]

Mthalane made his second IBF title defense against Johnriel Casimero on 26 March 2011 at the Nasrec Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mthalane won the fight by a fifth-round technical knockout. The bout was high in both pace and volume from the beginning, with Casimero fading as the fight went on, before he stopped defending himself effectively in the fifth round.^[7]

Mthalane was scheduled to make his third title defense against Andrea Sarritzu on 28 October 2011. The bout took place at the PalaRockfeller in Cagliari, Italy, which was his first fight outside of the South African Republic. Mthalane stopped the 35-year-old Sardinian by a seventh-round technical knockout, after Sarritzu's corner threw in the towel.^[8]

On 1 June 2012, the IBF ordered Mthalane to defend his title against Ricardo Nunez, giving the two camps a 30-day negotiation period to come to terms.^[9] Mthalane had a great start to the fight, as he managed to knock Nunez down in the second minute of the first round. Nunez knocked Mthalane down in turn in the third round, and began to take over the fight from that point until the seventh round. Mthalane rallied back in the from that point forward, before finally stopping Nunez in the eight round.^[10]

Mthalane was stripped of the IBF title in January 2014, after failing to come to terms with mandatory challenger Amnat Ruenroeng.^[11]

IBO flyweight champion

Mthalane vs. Oliva

18 months after his last fight, Mthalane was scheduled to face Jether Oliva for the vacant IBO flyweight title on 15 March 2014.^[12] He won the fight by split decision, with two judges awarding him a 116-112 and 117-112 scorecard respectively, while the third judge scored the fight 115-113 for Oliva.^[13]

Mthalane vs. Zaleta

Mthalane made his first IBO flyweight title defense against Odilon Zaleta on 26 October 2014 at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban, South Africa. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 117-111.^[14] 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.^[15] He won the fight by a ninth-round stoppage, as Rosia refused to come out of his corner for the tenth round.^[16] Mthalane faced Genisis Libranza in his third IBO title defense on 28 April 2017, following a near-17-month hiatus from boxing.^[17] He won the fight by a fourth-round knockout, stopping Libranza with a body shot.^[18]

Mthalane vs. Quaye

Mthalane faced Isaac Quaye in a ten-round non-title bout on 24 September 2017.^[19] He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.^[20] This was his last fight as an IBO champion, as he was vacated the title on 20 October 2017 to fight in an IBF sanctioned bout next.^[21]

Second IBF flyweight title reign

It was announced on 17 October 2017, that the #10 ranked IBF flyweight contender Mthalane would face Ardin Diale for the vacant IBF International flyweight title.^[22] Mthalane won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Following this victory, his promoter Tshele Kometsi began negotiating with the IBF for an IBF title eliminator bout.^[23]

Mthalane vs. Waseem

A title eliminator bout proved unnecessary, as the reigning IBF flyweight champion Donnie Nietes opted to vacate the title to move up in weight. Mthalane was instead scheduled to face Muhammad Waseem at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The fight was originally meant to be an eliminator before champion Donnie Nietes vacated the belt.^[24] Mthalane won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 114-113, 114-113 and 116-110. He 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.^[25]

Mthalane vs. Sakamoto

Mthalane made his first IBF title defense of his second reign against Masahiro Sakamoto on 31 December 2018 at the Wynn Palace in Macau. The #14 ranked IBF flyweight contender Sakamoto came in as a heavy underdog,^[26] which proved true in the fight, as Mthalane won the fight by a tenth-round technical knockout.^[27] He expressed his desire to unify with the new WBC flyweight champion Charlie Edwards, saying "At the moment I’m looking for the new champion Charlie Edwards. I would be very happy to get a chance to unify against him".^[28]

Mthalane vs. Kuroda

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.^[29] He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 116-112, 116-112, and 117-111.^[30]

Mthalane vs. Yaegashi

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.^[31] Yaegashi was ranked #14 by the IBF at flyweight.^[32] He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout, with CompuBox recording 1200 punches thrown. Mthalane began to take over from the seventh round onward, finally stopping his opponent with a flurry near the end of the ninth round.^[33]

Mthalane vs. Edwards

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.^[34] Despite Mthalane being able to close the gap in the latter part of the fight, Edwards just built up too big of a lead in the first half of the fight. Mthalane lost the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–111, 120–108 and 115–113.^[35]

Professional boxing record