Dingaan Bongane Thobela (born 24 September 1966), is a South African former professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who competed between 1990 and 2006. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

title from 1990 to 1992, the WBA lightweight in 1993, and the WBC

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

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

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, 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

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, 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

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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 The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

for the WBC Super Middleweight Title in 2001 as well as later champions

Mikkel Kessler Mikkel Kessler (born 1 March 1979) is a Danish former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2013. He held multiple super-middleweight world championships, including the WBA title three times between 2004 and 2013, and the WBC title twic ...

and

Lucian Bute Lucian Bute (born February 28, 1980) is a Romanian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutiv ...

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 Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, 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.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thobela, Dingaan 1966 births Living people South African male boxers Sportspeople from Soweto Welterweight boxers World Boxing Organization champions World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions World lightweight boxing champions World super-middleweight boxing champions

Professional career

Comeback

Professional boxing record

See also

References

Further reading

External links