Dingaan Thobela was a South African boxer who competed professionally between 1990 and 2006.
As sadly reported by The South African website, Thobela died on 29 April 2024.
He was 57.
Thobela was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO lightweight title from 1990 to 1992, the WBA lightweight in 1993, and the WBC super-middleweight title in 2000.
Tributes soon streamed in for Thobela as news spread of his tragic passing.
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‘Rose of Soweto’
After compiling an amateur record of 80-3, Thobela, known as “The Rose of Soweto”, turned pro in 1986 and won the WBO lightweight title in 1990 after beating Mauricio Aceves.
After defending the belt three times, he relinquished the title and then challenged WBA lightweight title holder Tony Lopez in 1993, but lost a hotly disputed decision.
Later that year he rematched Lopez and won a decision to win the title.
Battling to make the weight, he lost the title in his first defence to Orzubek Nazarov, and lost a rematch to Nazarov in 1994.
He stopped WBF junior welterweight champion Kenny Vice in a non-title fight shortly after that.
Dingaan Thobela later moved up significantly in weight class, and in the twilight of his career in 2000 took on WBC super middleweight title holder Glenn Catley, winning the belt via a 12th-round KO in only his second fight at the higher weight limit.
He again lost the title in his first defence to Dave Hilton Jr via controversial split decision.
The loss to Hilton was the beginning of the end for Thobela, who lost his next five fights, including a TKO loss to Eric Lucas for the WBC super middleweight title in 2001 as well as later champions Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute.
Thobela returned to the ring at the age of 40 and after an absence of nearly two years on 27 October 2006 when he challenged Soon Botes for the South African light heavyweight title at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg.
He had defeated Botes back in 2000 to win the South African Super middleweight title.
Many were surprised that the bout was sanctioned as Thobela failed to make the weight and his inactivity and age.
Although Thobela dropped Botes he did not come out for the 10th round.
Dingaan Thobela’s final professional fight record read 56 fights, 40 wins, 14 defeats and two draws.
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 |
