Jeffrey Mathebula (born 22 June 1979) is a South African professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. He held the IBF junior featherweight title in 2012.

Amateur career Mathebula competed for his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney in the Men's Featherweight division, where he defeated Noureddine Madjhoud in the first round and lost to Bekzat Sattarkhanov 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 in a six-round bout in Temba, North West in September 2004.

Mathebula defeated Julio Zarate via a unanimous decision with the scores of 117–109 twice and 118–109 in an IBF 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, but Molitor lost to Celestino Caballero. 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 at the Roberto Duran Arena 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

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes34LossKiko MartínezKO9 (12), 21 Dec 201333Win27–4–2 Takalani NdlovuUD1223 Mar 2013 32Loss26–4–2 Nonito DonaireUD127 Jul 2012 31Win26–3–2 Takalani NdlovuSD1224 Mar 2012 30Win25–3–2 Oscar ChaukeSD1211 Jun 2011 29Win24–3–2 Siviwe HasheniTKO2(8)30 Oct 2010 28Loss23–3–2 Takalani NdlovuSD121 Sep 2010 27Win23–2–2 Rashid AllyKO4 (6)20 Nov 2009 26Loss22–2–2 Celestino CaballeroSD1230 Apr 2009 25Win22–1–2 Julio ZarateUD1229 Aug 2008 24Win21–1–2 Yoshinori MiyataTKO8(12)22 Feb 2008 23Win20–1–2 Themba TshicilaRTD11 (12), 29 Jun 2007 22Win19–1–2 Mkhuseli KondileKO2(10)8 Dec 2006 21Win18–1–2 Aaron MelgarejoUD1230 Jun 2006 20Win17–1–2 Osumanu AkabaUD1230 Sep 2005 19Win16–1–2 Oscar ChaukePTS615 Apr 2005 18Draw15–1–2 Malcolm KlassenPTS628 Sep 2004 17Win15–1–1 Elias SkhosanaPTS623 Jul 2004 16Win14–1–1 Sonwabo MatayiPTS624 Feb 2004 15Loss13–1–1 Thomas MashabaTKO6(12)30 Sep 2003 14Win13–0–1 Oupa LubisiTKO3 (12)31 May 2003 13Win12–0–1 Bonani HlwatikaUD1215 Feb 2003 Won IBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight title12Win11–0–1 Petros MotsoaholeKO1 (6)22 Nov 2002 11Win10–0–1 Martin MnyanduPTS65 Oct 2002 10Draw9–0–1 Bonani HlwatikaPTS627 Aug 2002 9Win9–0 Wladimir BorovPTS615 May 2002 8Win8–0 Ebenezer TumaneTKO3 (6)27 Mar 2002 7Win7–0 Molefe BenzaneTKO4 (8)6 Feb 2002 6Win6–0 Koos SibiyaKO2 (6)24 Oct 2001 5Win5–0 Dumisani ZuluTKO1 (6)19 Sep 2001 4Win4–0 Takatso HlahanePTS422 Aug 2001 3Win3–0 Tshumbedzo TshishongeKO3 (4)2 Jun 2001 2Win2–0 Goodman MavusoTKO2 (4)9 May 2001 1Win1–0 Tally DisoloaneKO3 (4)17 Feb 2001

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