Dingaan Bongane Thobela, born on 24 September 1966, was a South African skilled boxer who competed between 1990 and 2006.
He was a world champion in two weight courses, having held the WBO light-weight title from 1990 to 1992, the WBA light-weight in 1993, and the WBC super-middleweight title in 2000.
As sadly reported by The South African web site, Thobela died on 29 April 2024 on the age of 57.
Tributes quickly streamed in for Thobela as information unfold of his tragic passing.
‘Rose of Soweto’
After compiling an beginner record of 80-3, Thobela, often called “The Rose of Soweto”, turned professional in 1986 and received the WBO light-weight title in 1990 after beating Mauricio Aceves.
After defending the belt 3 times, he relinquished the title after which challenged WBA light-weight title holder Tony Lopez in 1993, however misplaced a hotly disputed choice.
Later that 12 months he rematched Lopez and received a call to win the title.
Battling to make the load, he misplaced the title in his first defence to Orzubek Nazarov, and misplaced a rematch to Nazarov in 1994.
He stopped WBF junior welterweight champion Kenny Vice in a non-title fight shortly after that.
Thobela later moved up considerably in weight class, and within the twilight of his profession in 2000 took on WBC tremendous middleweight title holder Glenn Catley, successful the belt through a Twelfth-round KO in solely his second fight on the increased weight restrict.
He once more misplaced the title in his first defence to Dave Hilton Jr through controversial break up choice.
The loss to Hilton was the start of the tip for Thobela, who misplaced his subsequent 5 fights, together with a TKO loss to Eric Lucas for the WBC tremendous middleweight title in 2001 in addition to later champions Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute.
Thobela returned to the ring on the age of 40 and after an absence of almost two years on 27 October 2006 when he challenged Soon Botes for the South African mild heavyweight title on the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg.
He had defeated Botes again in 2000 to win the South African Super middleweight title.
Many have been stunned that the bout was sanctioned as Thobela didn’t make the load and his inactivity and age.
Although Thobela dropped Botes he didn’t come out for the tenth spherical.
Dingaan Thobela’s ultimate skilled fight record learn 56 fights, 40 wins, 14 defeats and two attracts.
DINGAAN THOBELA PROFESSIONAL FIGHT RECORD
| Fight | Result | Record | Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Loss | 40–14–2 | Soon Botes |
| 55 | Loss | 40–13–2 | Lucian Bute |
| 54 | Loss | 40–12–2 | Martin Nielsen |
| 53 | Loss | 40–11–2 | Otis Grant |
| 52 | Loss | 40–10–2 | Mikkel Kessler |
| 51 | Loss | 40–9–2 | Éric Lucas |
| 50 | Loss | 40–8–2 | Dave Hilton Jr. |
| 49 | Win | 40–7–2 | Glenn Catley |
| 48 | Win | 39–7–2 | Soon Botes |
| 47 | Loss | 38–7–2 | Cornelius Carr |
| 46 | Win | 38–6–2 | Adrian Walter Daneff |
| 45 | Draw | 37–6–2 | Carlos Baldomir |
| 44 | Win | 37–6–1 | Gary Murray |
| 43 | Loss | 36–6–1 | Willy Wise |
| 42 | Loss | 36–5–1 | Geoff McCreesh |
| 41 | Win | 36–4–1 | Wayne Boudreaux |
| 40 | Win | 35–4–1 | Booker Kidd |
| 39 | Win | 34–4–1 | Mark McCreath |
| 38 | Win | 33–4–1 | Jaime Balboa |
| 37 | Win | 32–4–1 | Santiago Alfonso Ahumada |
| 36 | Win | 31–4–1 | Kenny Vice |
| 35 | Win | 30–4–1 | Andreas Panayi |
| 34 | Loss | 29–4–1 | Karl Taylor |
| 33 | Loss | 29–3–1 | Orzubek Nazarov |
| 32 | Loss | 29–2–1 | Orzubek Nazarov |
| 31 | Win | 29–1–1 | Tony Lopez |
| 30 | Loss | 28–1–1 | Tony Lopez |
| 29 | Win | 28–0–1 | Tony Foster |
| 28 | Win | 27–0–1 | Peter Till |
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 | Antonio Rivera |
| 26 | Win | 25–0–1 | Amancio Castro |
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | Mario Martínez |
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | Mauricio Aceves |
| 23 | Win | 22–0–1 | Pascual Aranda |
| 22 | Win | 21–0–1 | Mauricio Aceves |
| 21 | Win | 20–0–1 | Felipe Orozco |
| 20 | Win | 19–0–1 | Francisco Ortiz |
| 19 | Win | 18–0–1 | Francisco Alvarez |
| 18 | Win | 17–0–1 | Danilo Cabrera |
| 17 | Win | 16–0–1 | Fred Adams |
| 16 | Win | 15–0–1 | Mark Fernandez |
| 15 | Win | 14–0–1 | Daniel Londas |
| 14 | Win | 13–0–1 | Brian Roche |
| 13 | Win | 12–0–1 | Mpisekhaya Mbaduli |
| 12 | Win | 11–0–1 | Ditau Molefyane |
| 11 | Win | 10–0–1 | Andy DeAbreu |
| 10 | Win | 9–0–1 | Gerald Isaacs |
| 9 | Win | 8–0–1 | Samuel Boikanyo |
| 8 | Win | 7–0–1 | Elijah Cele |
| 7 | Win | 6–0–1 | Shorne Moorcroft |
| 6 | Win | 5–0–1 | Walter Mpungose |
| 5 | Win | 4–0–1 | George Masango |
| 4 | Draw | 3–0–1 | Peter Mpikashe |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | David Matekane |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Christian Sithebe |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Quinton Ryan |
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