Jake Tuli (7 July 1931 – 24 November 1998) born Jacob Ntuli in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

was a South African

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

fly Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

/ bantam/

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

of the 1950s and 1960s who won the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

(South Africa) ( Non White) flyweight title, South African ( Non White) bantamweight title, South African ( Non White) flyweight title, and British Empire flyweight title, and was a challenger for the British Empire bantamweight title against

Peter Keenan Peter Patrick Pius Paul "Crackers" Keenan (born 7 April 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who worked as a strapper for Bart Cummings, and played with Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. Keenan ...

, his professional fighting weight varied from , i.e.

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

to , i.e.

Profile

Jacob Ntuli turned professional boxer in 1950 aged 19, in his eighth bout he captured the South African bantamweight title and later the flyweight title, in 1952 he became the first black South African to win an Empire championship (the forerunner to the Commonwealth title), this success made him one of the best two or three flyweights at that time, and his achievement was confirmed when

The Ring The Ring may refer to: Arts and entertainment *The Ring (franchise), ''The Ring'' (franchise), a Japanese horror media franchise Literature * ''The Ring'', a 1967 novel by Richard Chopping * ''The Ring'', a 1988 book by Daniel Keys Moran * ''The R ...

magazine ranked him as their top-rated flyweight, he had 19-fights in South Africa, 25-fights in Great Britain, 1-fight in

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

, 1-fight in the Philippines, and 1-fight in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. Ntuli was the first black South African boxer to receive world acclaim, his achievements are particularly remarkable in that they came at a time when black boxers were severely restricted and had little hope of advancement in the sport, as black fighters at the time were not allowed to compete against white fighters, and were restricted to black promoters, yet ironically, he became a favourite of the white boxing establishment. Ntuli was one of South Africa's finest fighters who made his mark on the sport of boxing, he proved his ability against the very best of his era and in doing this, played a pioneering role that opened doors for other black sportspersons, and is widely regarded as one of the 10 greatest South African boxers of all time, and it was for these reasons that he was posthumously awarded the

Order of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports. Before the order was established on 30 November 2003, such achievements were recognised by the ...

in Silver.

References

External links

*
Image - Jake Tuli (left)
1931 births 1998 deaths Bantamweight boxers Featherweight boxers Flyweight boxers Boxers from Johannesburg Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga South African male boxers 20th-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-boxing-bio-stub