Jacob Matlala

South African boxer (1962-2013)

雅各布·馬特拉 · ジェイコブ・マトラーラ

Born

1 August 1962, Meadowlands

Died

7 December 2013, Johannesburg

Citizenship

South Africa

Sport

boxing

Discipline

flyweight, light flyweight

Occupation

boxer

Nickname

Baby Jake

Jacob "Baby Jake" Matlala (1 August 1962 – 7 December 2013) was a South African professional boxer and four-time world champion who competed from 1980 to 2002. Standing about 4 ft 10 in (147 cm), he is the shortest boxer in history to win a world title. He was a world champion in two weight classes: having held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight title from 1993 to 1995 and the WBO light-flyweight from 1995 to 1997. He scored high-profile wins against international opponents during the 1990s. He was a hugely popular national figure in South Africa — admired for his fighting spirit and charitable work — and was publicly counted among Nelson Mandela’s favourite sportspeople. In 2004, Matlala was voted #72 in the "100 Greatest South Africans" poll organized by SABC.

Awards and honours

• WBO World Flyweight Champion
• WBO World Junior Flyweight Champion

External links

• Wikipedia
• BoxRec
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q3805791 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.