Zolani Tete proved in brutal fashion that he has more go give in the ring.
The 34-year-old former two-division titleholder knocked out Jason Cunningham in the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round 122-pound fight on the Joe Joyce-Christian Hammer card Saturday in London.
Tete (29-4, 22 KOs) lost his 118-pound title by a third-round knockout against John Riel Casimero in November 2019. That and a two-year hiatus from the sport led some to believe that the South African’s days as elite fighter were over.
And a first-round knockout of journeyman Iddi Kayumba last December — more than two years after the Casimero setback — proved little.
However, he looked as good as ever against a hot fighter in Cunningham (31-7, 7 KOs) at OVO Arena Wembley.
Tete,a southpaw, controlled the first three rounds with his jab, which was the calm before a short, but violent storm.
The beginning of the end was a perfect straight left to the chin in opening seconds of Round 4, which put Cunningham on his behind and hurt him badly.
Cunningham was able to get up and continue fighting but a flurry of hard punches from Tete — punctuated by a short left — put the loser down violently once again.
Referee Howard Foster stopped the fight a moment after Cunningham’s head hit the canvas. The official time was 34 seconds into Round 4.
Tete somehow was ranked by the WBO going into the fight but, after his emphatic victory on Saturday, he’s now a legitimate contender at junior featherweight.
