Ekoli Mahenge Zulu (November 21, 1965 – August 27, 2019) was an African-born, Italian boxer. He competed in the welterweight category.
Biography Mahenge Zulu was born in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. He grew up in Pesaro, in the region of Marche, in Italy.
He started boxing at the age of 15 and made his professional debut at 25, later than most boxers. In 1996 he won the IBF Intercontinental welterweight title. He retired after his loss against Félix Trinidad in a 1998 fight for the IBF welterweight title at the age of 33, ending his boxing career with a record of 17 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw.
He died of a heart attack on August 27, 2019, while on a flight to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire. He had suffered some heart and blood pressure issues days before and was warned by his doctor to not fly. Zulu was married to Emilia Bonse, who died in 2016. They have four daughters.
An intelligent man, Zulu was fluent in four languages, including Italian and Spanish.
Professional Boxing Record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes21Loss17–1–3 Félix Trinidad KO4 (12), Mar 3, 1998 20Win17–1–2 Marino MonteyneUD12Aug 2, 1997 19Win16–1–2 Nico ToririUD12Aug 17, 1996 18Win15–1–2 Mirsad Ramusovic TKO4 (10)Feb 1, 1996 17Win14–1–2 Tibor HorvathKO6 (12)Dec 14, 1995 16Win13–1–2 Leri DzebniauriUD10Oct 27, 1995 15Win12–1–2 Joszef Zoltan NagyUD10Jul 22, 1995 14Win11–1–2 Oleg KolchanovUD10Aug 24, 1994 13Win10–1–2 Lemark DavisUD10May 10, 1994 12Win9–1–2 Itoro MkpanamUD10Sep 29, 1993 11Win8–1–2 Csaba CsikTKO6 (10)Mar 30, 1993 10Draw7–1–2 Curtis SummitTKO10Jun 13, 1992 9Win7–0–2 Gejza StipakTKO6 (8)May 30, 1992 8Win6–0–2 Judas ClotteyTKO1 (8), May 30, 1992 7Win5–0–2 Piero SeveriniUD8Feb 19, 1992 6Win4–0–2 Riccardo Fiore8Aug 24, 1991 5Loss3–0–2 Valentino MancaUD6Jul 27, 1991 4Win3–0–1 Khemissi BahloulDQ5 (6)Dec 21, 1990 3Win2–0–1 Imre BacskaiUD4Oct 12, 1990 2Loss1–0–1 Itoro Mkpanam UD4Aug 31, 1990 1Win1–0–0 Nabil Tennoune2 (4)Apr 27, 1990
References
External links BoxRec: Ekoli Zulu