If I am being honest, Zolani Tete (27-3, 21 KOs) has been a difficult fighter for me to get a solid read on for some time. He first emerged on the world scene in 2010 with a failed IBF title shot at South African fellow countryman Moruti Mthalane down at flyweight. That wasn’t a competitive fight, but Mthalane was a legit top fighter while Tete was a 13 fight, 22 year old novice to the pro game. The IBF was apparently in love with him anyway, however, as they gave him a title eliminator at super flyweight a few fights later. He lost and then they gave him yet another one two fights after. He lost the second eliminator opportunity too, but both decision losses were razor close. The last one was in 2012 against Robert Domingo Sosa. Six years later, Zolani Tete has not since.
In July of 2014, Tete traveled to Japan to compete for the then vacant IBF super flyweight belt against durable contender Teiru Kinoshita. The fourth time was the charm and he walked with his belt. It was his stoppage win over then unbeaten Paul Butler in his first defense that sealed his spot in the sport though. Zolani had to travel to the UK for that one where he caught the eye of regional power promoter Frank Warren. When the South African titleholder decided to vacate and move up to bantamweight, Warren and his team were behind him in the UK.
Tete made his bantamweight debut in early 2016. A little over a year later he pitched a shut out decision over Arthur Villanueva to get an interim title at the weight. That title eventually got elevated to full status and Zolani made his first defense against notably weak challenger Siboniso Gonya. All it took was one punch to win that one and I mean that very literally. It was a farcical fight booking and the result played out accordingly. Interestingly, however, the general fanbase seemed to think much more of the two division titleholder after the record setting KO. It was good promotion in the end.
Still, I found his competition to be quite lacking at both 118 lbs and at lower weights. Easily outpointing Omar Andres Narvaez over twelve rounds helped a bit in April, but the aging Argentinian was in his early 40s and it is hard to count it.
It is not hard to count Mikhail “Misha” Aloyan’s (4-0) fights. He has four, all of which he has won over the distance. The Russian contender was one of the best amateurs in the world for some time. He is a two time Olympic medalist and a two time World Amateur Champion. These are serious credentials to say the least. Yet, he hasn’t been a super impressive pro to my eye.
Aloyan has taken on tough competition relative to having only four fights, but he hasn’t met a world class professional. Last time out in February, Alexander Espinoza was able to land on him quite a bit in a relatively even fight. Misha Aloyan can be a crafty competitor in there and he has loads of experience in tournaments on the world stage, but his problem with be that Zolani Tete is a pure power puncher. If the Russian gets clipped at anywhere near the rate that he did against Espinoza, good night. That is what I expect to happen. If it doesn’t, however, maybe Aloyan’s home field advantage in Russia here can help him get the close rounds scored in his favor. The winner will meet either Ryan Burnett or Nonito Donaire in the semifinals
In the opener to the under the radar cruiserweight sequel tournament, Andrew Tabiti (16-0, 14 KOs) kicks things off on the road against local fighter Ruslan Fayfer (23-0, 16 KOs). To be entirely honest here, I’ve never thought to follow Fayfer and know little about him. He wasn’t an amateur champion and he has no real notable wins. Tabiti on the other hand has well beat up and dimissed members of the old guard at cruiserweight with his immense talent. PBC has not done well by Andrew in terms of promoting him or keeping him active, so I’m glad he gets a tournament like this to show off in. I expect he’ll roll here, but then again I can’t say Fayfer is weak for sure. The winner gets either Krzystof Glowacki or Maxim Vlasov in the semis.
As with all of the World Boxing Super Series, DAZN has the broadcast while ITV carries it in the UK. Official start time of the stream is 1 PM, but it is unclear right now if that is the start of the main two fights or the entire card. If the prelims are shown, they will feature players on the Russian high regional scene like Roman Andreev, Nicolai Potapov, and highly regarded prospect Magomed Kurbanov.
