Thulani Malinga (born 11 December 1955) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 2000, and held the WBC super-middleweight title twice between 1996 and 1998. He holds the record for the oldest boxer to win a world title for the first time.
Professional career Known as "Sugar Boy", Malinga turned pro in 1981 after compiling an amateur record of 185–10. He began his career with a first-round stoppage of Victor Zulu on 8 August 1981. Malinga held several championship titles during a twenty-year career as a middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight, fighting memorable bouts against Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank and Roy Jones Jr., among others.
In 1989 he got his first shot at a title, taking on undefeated IBF super middleweight title holder Graciano Rocchigiani. Malinga lost a decision, and the next year took on Lindell Holmes, again for the IBF super middleweight title. He again lost via decision, and in 1992 got a shot at the WBO super middleweight title against Chris Eubank, during which Malinga was dropped in the fifth round and lost a close decision. Three months later he was also to lose a close decision—by just half a point—against Nigel Benn. After many fights in his native South Africa, and a further KO loss to Roy Jones Jr. in the U.S., he landed another shot at the title in March 1996 against Benn, who was now the WBC super middleweight champion. Despite suffering a knockdown, Malinga scored an upset against Benn to win the title, but ended up losing the title in his first defense against Vincenzo Nardiello. He regained the title in his next fight, a decision win over Robin Reid (who had defeated Nardiello in his first defense of the title). However, he would again lose the belt in his first defense against Richie Woodhall, via decision. He fought four more times, retiring after a suffering an eighth-round TKO against Ole Klemetsen on 14 January 2000, finishing his career with 44 wins (20 by KO) and 13 losses. His trainer was Nick Durandt.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes57Loss44–13 Ole KlemetsenTKO8 (12), 14 Jan 2000 56Loss44–12 Mads LarsenTKO10 (12)19 Mar 1999 55Win44–11 Peter H MadsenRTD8 (12), 27 Nov 1998 54Win43–11 Fredrik AlvarezTKO11 (12)5 Jun 1998 53Loss42–11 Richie WoodhallUD1227 Mar 1998 52Win42–10 Robin ReidUD1219 Dec 1997 51Loss41–10 Vincenzo NardielloSD126 Jul 1996 50Win41–9 Nigel BennSD122 Mar 1996 49Win40–9 Trevor AmbrosePTS822 Jul 1995 48Win39–9 Soon BotesTKO7 (12)4 Mar 1995 47Win38–9 Martin OppermanTKO9 (12)20 Nov 1994 46Win37–9 Ray AcquayeTKO5 (12)14 Aug 1994 45Win36–9 Mohammed IsaacsKO7 (12)20 Feb 1994 44Loss35–9 Roy Jones Jr.KO6 (10), 14 Aug 1993 43Win35–8 Gary BallardUD1210 Feb 1993 42Win34–8 Jim MurrayMD1214 Sep 1992 41Loss33–8 Nigel BennPTS1023 May 1992 40Loss33–7 Chris EubankSD121 Feb 1992 39Win33–6 Leonard FriedmanUD1013 Aug 1991 38Loss32–6 Lindell HolmesUD1215 Dec 1990 37Win32–5 Sakkie HornPTS1211 Oct 1990 36Loss31–5 John JarvisMD125 Aug 1990 35Win31–4 Tony HarrisonUD1029 Jan 1990 34Win30–4 Oscar PenaUD105 Dec 1989 33Win29–4 Jose QuinonesTKO8 (10)21 Oct 1989 32Win28–4 Vincent Boulware1018 Sep 1989 31Win27–4 Nicky WalkerUD1027 May 1989 30Win26–4 Mike PeakUD1011 Mar 1989 29Loss25–4 Graciano RocchigianiUD1227 Jan 1989 28Win25–3 Larry MusgroveSD1018 Jul 1988 27Win24–3 Jim MacDonaldUD107 Mar 1988 26Win23–3 Harry CowapUD101 Feb 1988 25Loss22–3 Sakkie Horn12 (12)21 Nov 1987 24Win22–2 Prince TukaneTKO4 (10)18 Oct 1987 23Loss21–2 Sakkie Horn129 May 1987 22Win21–1 Freddie RaffertyUD1215 Dec 1986 21Win20–1 Sakkie HornPTS1219 Oct 1986 20Win19–1 Gregory ClarkUD1228 Jun 1986 19Win18–1 Pieter de BruinTKO8 (12)8 Mar 1986 18Win17–1 Kosie van VuurenRTD10 (12)14 Dec 1985 17Win16–1 Pieter de BruinPTS627 Jul 1985 16Win15–1 Frankie DecaesteckerRTD522 Jun 1985 15Win14–1 Robert MadiTKO8 (8)20 Apr 1985 14Win13–1 Gavin StirrupKO2 (10)15 Mar 1985 13Win12–1 Mwehu BeyaRTD6 (10)26 Oct 1984 12Win11–1 Michael MotsoaneUD1215 Jun 1984 11Win10–1 Prince TukanePTS81 May 1984 10Win9–1 John DiaminiKO4 (10)27 Feb 1984 9Win8–1 Samson Mohloai127 Feb 1983 8Win7–1 David KalakoPTS64 Oct 1982 7Win6–1 Shadrack SitholeKO2 (10)13 Sep 1982 6Win5–1 Graham Mdingi2 (6)28 Aug 1982 5Win4–1 Morris MohloaiPTS65 Jun 1982 4Loss3–1 Patrick TshabalalaPTS617 Apr 1982 3Win3–0 Werdie Jacobs4 (4)30 Nov 1981 2Win2–0 Cyprian Shandu412 Sep 1981 1Win1–0 Victor Zulu1 (4)8 Aug 1981
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