Jeffrey Mathebula (born 22 June 1979) is a South African professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. He held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

junior featherweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title in 2012.

Amateur career

Mathebula competed for his native country at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney in the Men's Featherweight division, where he defeated Noureddine Madjhoud in the first round and lost to

Bekzat Sattarkhanov Bekzat Seilkhanovich Sattarkhanov ( kz, Бекзат Сеилханович Саттарханов; 4 April 1980 — 31 December 2000) was a Kazakh boxer who competed in the men's featherweight division (57 kg) at the 2000 Summer Olympics a ...

in the second round. He finished his amateur career with a record of 101–4.

Professional career

Mathebula made his professional debut on 17 February 2001, and has been managed and trained by Nick Durandt and promoted by Branco Sports Promotions. He fought to a draw with

Malcolm Klassen Malcolm Klassen (born in Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa) is a South African professional boxer. He held the IBF super featherweight title twice from 2006 until 2007, as well as in 2009. Professional career Klassen lost a decision to Robert ...

in a six-round bout in Temba, North West in September 2004. Mathebula defeated Julio Zarate via a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

with the scores of 117–109 twice and 118–109 in an

super bantamweight title eliminator in Temba on 29 August 2008, after knocking him down twice in the tenth-round. He was supposed to challenge the then IBF super bantamweight champion

Steve Molitor Steve Molitor (born April 4, 1980) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2000 to 2012 and held the IBF super-bantamweight title twice between 2006 and 2011. Career history Born in Sarnia, Ontario, Molitor began boxing at th ...

, but Molitor lost to

Celestino Caballero Celestino Caballero (born June 21, 1976) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super) and IBF super bantamweight titles between 200 ...

. Hence, Mathebula fought against Caballero for the WBA Super World and IBF World super bantamweight title. However, he lost his first world title shot against Caballero via a

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

at the

Roberto Duran Arena The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in Panama on 30 April 2009. After losing to Takalani Ndlovu via a split decision in an IBF junior featherweight title eliminator in Brakpan, Gauteng in September 2010, Mathebula defeated Ndlovu via a split decision in their rematch in Brakpan to be crowned the IBF junior featherweight champion. It was the SABC-televised first boxing event after one year interruption.

Mathebula v. Donaire

In one of the more defining and memorable fights, Mathebula fought the hard-hitting, WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Nonito Donaire (29–1 18 KO's). Donaire is rated by The Ring as the number five pound-for-pound boxer in the world. It was a unification fight for IBF and WBO Super Bantamweight belts. The bout was Live on HBO Boxing After Dark on 7 July 2012 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Donaire defeated Methebula by unanimous decision. Donaire knocked Mathebula down in round four, breaking his jaw in two places.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathebula, Jeffrey 1979 births Living people People from Collins Chabane Local Municipality Tsonga people Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of South Africa Featherweight boxers Super-bantamweight boxers World super-bantamweight boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions World boxing champions South African male boxers Sportspeople from Limpopo