Dingaan Bongani Thobela (24 September 1966 – 29 April 2024) was a South African professional boxer who competed between 1990 and 2006. He is one of only two boxers in history, along with Terence Crawford, to win world titles at both lightweight and super-middleweight. Thobela held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight title from 1990 to 1992, the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight in 1993, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-middleweight title in 2000.

Professional career 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 defense 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.

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 defense 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.

Comeback 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, South Africa. 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 was clearly not conditioned to fight and did not come out for the tenth round.

Death On 29 April 2024, Thobela was found dead in his apartment in Johannesburg at the age of 57 after a period of illness. His death came days after South Africa celebrated the 30th anniversary of the end of the apartheid

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes56LossSoon BotesRTD10 (12), 27 Oct 200655Loss40–13–2Lucian ButeTKO4 (8), 3 Dec 200454Loss40–12–2Martin NielsenUD613 Dec 200353Loss40–11–2Otis GrantUD822 Nov 200352Loss40–10–2Mikkel KesslerUD1229 Nov 200251Loss40–9–2Éric LucasTKO8 (12), 30 Nov 200150Loss40–8–2Dave Hilton Jr.SD1215 Dec 200049Win40–7–2Glenn CatleyKO12 (12), 1 Sep 200048Win39–7–2Soon BotesMD1219 Feb 200047Loss38–7–2Cornelius CarrMD1231 Oct 199946Win38–6–2Adrian Walter DaneffTKO7 (12)6 Mar 199945Draw37–6–2Carlos Baldomir1228 Oct 199844Win37–6–1Gary MurrayTKO4 (10)8 Oct 199743Loss36–6–1Willy Wise SD1022 Mar 199742Loss36–5–1Geoff McCreeshKO2 (8), 5 Nov 199641Win36–4–1Wayne Boudreaux KO6 (10)25 Jun 199640Win35–4–1Booker Kidd TKO3 (10)25 Jun 199639Win34–4–1Mark McCreath TKO9 (10)25 Nov 199538Win33–4–1Jaime Balboa KO8 (10)26 Sep 199537Win32–4–1Santiago Alfonso Ahumada TKO2 (10), 19 Aug 199536Win31–4–1Kenny Vice TKO2 (10)6 May 199535Win30–4–1Andreas Panayi TKO2 (10)11 Feb 199534Loss29–4–1Karl Taylor PTS829 Nov 199433Loss29–3–1Orzubek NazarovUD1219 Mar 199432Loss29–2–1Orzubek NazarovUD1230 Oct 199331Win29–1–1Tony LopezUD1226 Jun 199330Loss28–1–1Tony LopezUD1212 Feb 199329Win28–0–1Tony FosterPTS831 Oct 199228Win27–0–1Peter TillTKO9 (10)15 Aug 199227Win26–0–1Antonio RiveraUD1214 Sep 199126Win25–0–1Amancio Castro UD1013 Jul 199125Win24–0–1Mario MartínezUD122 Mar 199124Win23–0–1Mauricio AcevesSD1222 Sep 199023Win22–0–1Pascual ArandaTKO4 (10)23 Jul 199022Win21–0–1Mauricio AcevesRTD7 (10), 27 Apr 199021Win20–0–1Felipe Orozco TKO10 (10)22 Jan 199020Win19–0–1Francisco OrtizUD10 5 Dec 198919Win18–0–1Francisco AlvarezTKO9 (10)21 Oct 198918Win17–0–1Danilo CabreraTKO3 (10)24 Jul 198917Win16–0–1Fred AdamsKO1 (10)15 May 198916Win15–0–1Mark FernandezTKO6 (10)11 Mar 198915Win14–0–1Daniel Londas MD10 23 Jan 198914Win13–0–1Brian Roche KO8 (10)13 Dec 198813Win12–0–1Mpisekhaya Mbaduli TKO8 (12)1 Oct 198812Win11–0–1Ditau MolefyaneUD10 10 Jul 198811Win10–0–1Andy DeAbreuTKO5 (10)9 May 198810Win9–0–1Gerald IsaacsTKO3 (10)7 Mar 19889Win8–0–1Samuel BoikanyoTKO4 (8)1 Feb 19888Win7–0–1Elijah CelePTS6 15 Dec 19877Win6–0–1Shorne MoorcroftTKO5 (6)21 Nov 19876Win5–0–1Walter MpungoseTKO6 (6)11 Jul 19875Win4–0–1George MasangoPTS4 8 Mar 19874Draw3–0–1Peter MpikashePTS4 15 Dec 19863Win3–0David MatekanePTS6 2 Nov 19862Win2–0Christian SithebeTKO4 (6)27 Aug 19861Win1–0Quinton RyanPTS4 28 Jun 1986

See also List of world lightweight boxing champions List of world super-middleweight boxing champions

References

Further reading Potgieter, Deon (2009) Rose of Soweto: The Dingaan Thobela Story Penguin, Johannesburg, South Africa,

External links