Tributes continue to pour in for boxer Dingaan Thobela

SHARE THIS PAGE!

Connect Radio News
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Former world boxing champions Brian Mitchell and Jan Bergman have both described Dingaan Thobela as the best ever pound for pound boxer to come out of South Africa.

The former three-time world champion died on Saturday after battling an illness.

Thobela was 57-years old.

He was found dead in his Mayfair apartment by members of his family and police on Monday, after they struggled to get in touch with him.

Poor health prevented Thobela, affectionately known as The Rose of Soweto, from attending last Friday’s SA Boxing symposium held in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Thobela who was born on 24 September 1966, held three world titles in two weight divisions in his heyday- the WBO and WBA Lightweight titles as well as the more prestigious WBC Super Middleweight title he won in 2000.

He was the WBO lightweight champion from 1990 to 1992 and the WBA lightweight champions in 1993.

He competed professionally between 1990 and 2006. In the twilight of his career, Thobela was a friend and sparring partner of another former world champion, Jan Bergman.

“I’m very upset because we were very good buddies. Dingaan in old times when I turned pro, he helped me a lot. He was a strong person. I’m so disappointed that we were supposed to be honoured now on the 17th June and there he goes and passed on and it was me, and him, and uncle Norman”.

 

Thobela had his issues with the scale during his career and moved up significantly in weight class. He achieved the unthinkable in September of 2000, won the WBC Super Middleweight title with a 12th round stoppage of defending champion Glenn Catley of England at Carnival City in Brakpan.

It was only his second fight in his new weight class. Another former world champion, Brian Mitchell, described The Rose of Soweto as legendary.

“Very sad you know, Dingaan was legendary in many aspects. He was not only a three-time world champion, he was a great guy outside the ring as well.  We go back such a long way, you know people talk about our rivalry where we could have fought each other, who would have won. So, when I retired, Dingaan Thobela was still fighting and I was his trainer at one time. So, we go back a long way, I took him to some fights in America and became a good friend of his.”

Veteran boxing promoter Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions says Thobela is the best professional boxer to come out of South Africa.

“He’s one of the greats of South African boxing, he held three world titles but the very interesting thing in fought in 1993 when he beat Tony Lopez at lightweight, seven years later he fought a fight where nobody thought he had any chance of winning. It was super middleweight, that how he bounced out. It’s one of the most still spoken about exciting finishes in South African boxing history.”

 

After retiring from professional boxing, Thobela helped to establish TLB Boxing Promotions in 2016. Director of TLB, Joyce Kungwane, says Thobela worked alongside other former boxers such as Lehlohonolo “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba and Bergman amongst others.

“I was taken aback, I mean I couldn’t sleep and also considering where we come back with Dingaan, I mean the origin of TLB, you can never mention TLB and not mention Dingaan. We started TLB together with Letlhogonolo and yesterday you know I was talking to somebody, and he says to me the second founder of TLB has passed on,” says Director of TLB Joyce Kungwane.

To pay its respects to the legendary Dingaan Thobela, the Premier Soccer League announced it will observe a moment of silence at all DSTV Premiership, Nedbank Cup, Motsepe Foundation Championship and DSTV Diski Challenge matches this week.

8 days ago

© 2021 Copyright, All Right Reserved, Made by  FamCast with