Zolani Tete: record, next fight and profile →
A FEW OF our fighters will get to chalk off a goal on their boxing bucket list this weekend when they are given the opportunity to shine at London’s venerable old York Hall. With Anthony Yarde, Daniel Dubois and Nathan Gorman all featuring on the bill, we could well have titled the show as the Big Bash and, if those three are in the mood, blinking is not advisable.
Zolani Tete will make the second defence of his WBO Bantamweight World Championship against Omar Andres Narvaez on the blockbuster Frampton v Donaire bill at Belfast’s SSE Arena on Saturday 21st April. Tete (26-3, 21 KO’s) had been due to defend his title against Narvaez in London this month but was forced to postpone the bout after suffering a calf injury in training but will now return to the scene of his record-breaking knockout win over Siboniso Gonya.
AS previously reported on BoxingScene.com, Zolani Tete's mandatory WBO world bantamweight title defence has been rescheduled for April 21 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Tete (26-3, 21 Kos) will defend against Argentinean veteran Omar Narvaez in a rescheduled bout after their first date, planned for last Saturday, fell through when Tete suffered a calf muscle injury in training.
Former two division world champion Omar Narvaez (47-2-2, 25 KOs) will stay busy, as he booked a fight for this coming Saturday night in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. He will go against Jesus Vargas (16-11-1, 12 KOs) of Venezuela. The two boxers are very familiar with each other. They collided in the bantamweight division back in February of 2016, when Narvaez stopped Vargas in seven rounds.
A decision has been made to cancel the event scheduled to take place on Saturday 10th February at the Copper Box Arena after recent changes to the card diminished its strength. Last week WBO World Bantamweight Champion Zolani Tete withdrew from the card with a calf injury meaning the show lost its headline fight.
A calf injury has forced Zolani Tete to postpone his WBO World Bantamweight title defence against Omar Narvaez. Tete, 29, was due to defend his crown at London’s Copper Box Arena on Saturday 10th February, but will now make his mandatory defence against the Argentinian at a later date in 2018.
ZOLANI Tete’s highly anticipated WBO world bantamweight title defence against Argentinean Omar Narvaez has been postponed after the South African suffered an injury in training. According to Tete’s manager Mla Tengimfene, Tete suffered a calf injury while running on the sand in preparation for the fight that was scheduled to be held at Copper Box Arena, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick in London on February 10.
Promoter Frank Warren has revealed that he is open to making a fight between Zolani Tete and Naoya Inoue, stating he would "sign up for it in a heartbeat". At the weekend, two-weight World Champion Inoue battered Yoann Boyeaux in three rounds to retain his WBO world super flyweight Title in Japan. Now he plans to move up to bantamweight, where Tete holds the WBO crown. The WBO would likely make Inoue the mandatory challenger, because he was the world champion at the lighter weight.
Frank Warren enjoyed a successful year in boxing in 2017, having linked up with BT Sport. The Hall Of Fame promoter, who heads up Queensberry Promotions, put on 11 shows on the channel last year. And the man who now looks after Carl Frampton, Lee Selby, Josh Warrington and many more to boot, has wasted no time in confirming the details of his first big show of the New Year.
“The opponents are interesting” is how WBO super flyweight boss Naoya Inoue described the current options at the 118lb bantamweight division. The comments were made after another dominant Inoue performance, this time soundly defeating Yoann Boyeaux by 3rd round TKO.