JOBURG SOUTH – Saturday December 7 saw South Africa grieving for yet another icon, Jacob ‘Baby Jake’ Matlala, he died at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital reportedly with the complications related to pneumonia.
Just two days after his fan Madiba passed on; the diminutive 51 year old boxer will be remembered as the only South African who won four diferrent world titles in boxing.
Baby Jake started his professional boxing career at the age of 18, and was the shortest boxing world champion at only 1.47m tall. He continued boxing for the next 22 years.
He is survived by his wife Mapule and two sons, Masego and Tshepo.
Records, total fights: 68 with 53 wins and only two draws.
At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
