| Thulani Malinga | |
| Nickname: | Sugar Boy |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 5 ft 9+1/2 in |
| Nationality: | South African |
| Birth Date: | 1955 12, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Ladysmith, South Africa |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 57 |
| Wins: | 44 |
| Ko: | 19 |
| Losses: | 13 |
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.[1]
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.[2]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | Loss | 44–13 | Ole Klemetsen | TKO | 8 (12), | 14 Jan 2000 | |||
| 56 | Loss | 44–12 | Mads Larsen | TKO | 10 (12) | 19 Mar 1999 | |||
| 55 | Win | 44–11 | Peter H Madsen | RTD | 8 (12), | 27 Nov 1998 | |||
| 54 | Win | 43–11 | Fredrik Alvarez | TKO | 11 (12) | 5 Jun 1998 | |||
| 53 | Loss | 42–11 | Richie Woodhall | UD | 12 | 27 Mar 1998 | |||
| 52 | Win | 42–10 | Robin Reid | UD | 12 | 19 Dec 1997 | |||
| 51 | Loss | 41–10 | Vincenzo Nardiello | SD | 12 | 6 Jul 1996 | |||
| 50 | Win | 41–9 | Nigel Benn | SD | 12 | 2 Mar 1996 | |||
| 49 | Win | 40–9 | Trevor Ambrose | PTS | 8 | 22 Jul 1995 | |||
| 48 | Win | 39–9 | Soon Botes | TKO | 7 (12) | 4 Mar 1995 | |||
| 47 | Win | 38–9 | Martin Opperman | TKO | 9 (12) | 20 Nov 1994 | |||
| 46 | Win | 37–9 | Ray Acquaye | TKO | 5 (12) | 14 Aug 1994 | |||
| 45 | Win | 36–9 | Mohammed Isaacs | KO | 7 (12) | 20 Feb 1994 | |||
| 44 | Loss | 35–9 | Roy Jones Jr. | KO | 6 (10), | 14 Aug 1993 | |||
| 43 | Win | 35–8 | Gary Ballard | UD | 12 | 10 Feb 1993 | |||
| 42 | Win | 34–8 | Jim Murray | MD | 12 | 14 Sep 1992 | |||
| 41 | Loss | 33–8 | Nigel Benn | PTS | 10 | 23 May 1992 | |||
| 40 | Loss | 33–7 | Chris Eubank | SD | 12 | 1 Feb 1992 | |||
| 39 | Win | 33–6 | Leonard Friedman | UD | 10 | 13 Aug 1991 | |||
| 38 | Loss | 32–6 | Lindell Holmes | UD | 12 | 15 Dec 1990 | |||
| 37 | Win | 32–5 | Sakkie Horn | PTS | 12 | 11 Oct 1990 | |||
| 36 | Loss | 31–5 | John Jarvis | MD | 12 | 5 Aug 1990 | |||
| 35 | Win | 31–4 | Tony Harrison | UD | 10 | 29 Jan 1990 | |||
| 34 | Win | 30–4 | Oscar Pena | UD | 10 | 5 Dec 1989 | |||
| 33 | Win | 29–4 | Jose Quinones | TKO | 8 (10) | 21 Oct 1989 | |||
| 32 | Win | 28–4 | Vincent Boulware | 10 | 18 Sep 1989 | ||||
| 31 | Win | 27–4 | Nicky Walker | UD | 10 | 27 May 1989 | |||
| 30 | Win | 26–4 | Mike Peak | UD | 10 | 11 Mar 1989 | |||
| 29 | Loss | 25–4 | Graciano Rocchigiani | UD | 12 | 27 Jan 1989 | |||
| 28 | Win | 25–3 | Larry Musgrove | SD | 10 | 18 Jul 1988 | |||
| 27 | Win | 24–3 | Jim MacDonald | UD | 10 | 7 Mar 1988 | |||
| 26 | Win | 23–3 | Harry Cowap | UD | 10 | 1 Feb 1988 | |||
| 25 | Loss | 22–3 | Sakkie Horn | 12 (12) | 21 Nov 1987 | ||||
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Prince Tukane | TKO | 4 (10) | 18 Oct 1987 | |||
| 23 | Loss | 21–2 | Sakkie Horn | 12 | 9 May 1987 | ||||
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Freddie Rafferty | UD | 12 | 15 Dec 1986 | |||
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Sakkie Horn | PTS | 12 | 19 Oct 1986 | |||
| 20 | Win | 19–1 | Gregory Clark | UD | 12 | 28 Jun 1986 | |||
| 19 | Win | 18–1 | Pieter de Bruin | TKO | 8 (12) | 8 Mar 1986 | |||
| 18 | Win | 17–1 | Kosie van Vuuren | RTD | 10 (12) | 14 Dec 1985 | |||
| 17 | Win | 16–1 | Pieter de Bruin | PTS | 6 | 27 Jul 1985 | |||
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Frankie Decaestecker | RTD | 5 | 22 Jun 1985 | |||
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Robert Madi | TKO | 8 (8) | 20 Apr 1985 | |||
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Gavin Stirrup | KO | 2 (10) | 15 Mar 1985 | |||
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Mwehu Beya | RTD | 6 (10) | 26 Oct 1984 | |||
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Michael Motsoane | UD | 12 | 15 Jun 1984 | |||
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | Prince Tukane | PTS | 8 | 1 May 1984 | |||
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | John Diamini | KO | 4 (10) | 27 Feb 1984 | |||
| 9 | Win | 8–1 | Samson Mohloai | 12 | 7 Feb 1983 | ||||
| 8 | Win | 7–1 | David Kalako | PTS | 6 | 4 Oct 1982 | |||
| 7 | Win | 6–1 | Shadrack Sithole | KO | 2 (10) | 13 Sep 1982 | |||
| 6 | Win | 5–1 | Graham Mdingi | 2 (6) | 28 Aug 1982 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 4–1 | Morris Mohloai | PTS | 6 | 5 Jun 1982 | |||
| 4 | Loss | 3–1 | Patrick Tshabalala | PTS | 6 | 17 Apr 1982 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Werdie Jacobs | 4 (4) | 30 Nov 1981 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Cyprian Shandu | 4 | 12 Sep 1981 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Victor Zulu | 1 (4) | 8 Aug 1981 |