Morris “Yankee” Mohloai, who fought from 1971 to 1982 and won the South African welterweight title, was a shy and well-spoken young man and a flashy dresser.
He worked at a local retail department clothing store in Johannesburg as a merchandiser and was always first in the latest fashion American-styled cloths, hence the name “Yankee”.
Born Tebho Morris in Soweto on 17 June 1950, he made his pro debut on 18 December 1971 against Zizi Nkathazo at the Community Hall in Duncan Village in the Eastern Cape, fighting to a four-round draw.
It has been reported that that he lost only six of 70 amateur fights before he joined the professional ranks.
Mohloai won five of his next eight fights before challenging one of the great fighters of the South African ring, Gordon Goba (49-1-2), for the South African (Non-White) junior middleweight title and was knocked out in the third round. Goba also held the South African middleweight title.
He then scored four victories before winning the Transvaal welterweight title with a ten-round points win over Cecil Kekane.
Managed by Edwin Ratefane he won against capable fighters like Mike Ramagole and Griffiths Mjima before outscoring Maxwell Malinga over 12 rounds at the Kwa Thema Civic Centre on 30 May 1975 to take the South African (Non-White) welterweight title.
After remaining unbeaten in his next five fights, he retained the South African welterweight title with a 12-round points decision in a return match with Malinga.
In his next fight he won on points over eight rounds against the vastly experienced Langton Tinago (42-5).
He remained unbeaten in his next six fights, which included a win over Griffiths Mgima, to retain the South African title before meeting the white South African welterweight champion Harold Volbrect in a clash for the vacant South African “supreme” welterweight title at the Ellis Park Tennis Courts on 29 April 1978, losing on a second-round knockout.
After this setback, Mohloai won against Gert Cramer (pts 6) and Joseph Lala (pts 8), and lost to David Kambule on two occasions, before winning the vacant Transvaal middleweight title with a tenth knockout victory over Zacharia Tshabalala.
However, after this win the spark was gone and he lost to Gert Steyn (pts 12) in a challenge for the South African junior middleweight title, Coenie Bekker (ko 8) for the vacant SA junior middleweight title, and in his last fight, on 27 November 1982 at the Mphatlalatsane Amphitheatre in Sebokeng, he was stopped in two rounds by David Kambule.
Mohloai met some of the best fighters around at the time and finished with a record of 34-11-1; 9, losing only six fights inside the distance.
He was never far away from boxing, and I can remember seeing him at ringside as a judge on several occasions.