Dingaan Thobela

Dingaan Thobela
Data
Birth Name	Dingaan Bongani Thobela
Fight name	Rose of Soweto
Weight class	Super middleweight (last)
nationality	south african
birthday	September 24, 1966
place of birth	Soweto
style	Left delivery
size	1.71 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	56
Victories	40
Knockout victories	26th
Defeats	14th
draw	2

Dingaan Bongani Thobela (born September 24, 1966 in Soweto ) is a former South African professional boxer . In the course of his career he was world champion of the WBO and WBA in the lightweight, as well as world champion of the WBC in the super middleweight division.

Boxing career

He started amateur boxing in the early 1980s under Norman Hlabane at the Sanyo Boxing Academy in Soweto and was quickly considered a great talent. In 1985 he won every district and area championship and was voted the best boxer of the tournament. He qualified for the South African Championships in lightweight, which he could also win. He then switched to professional business with the support of his trainer.

After 22 wins and one draw, he won the WBO lightweight world championship in September 1990 against Mexican southpaw Mauricio Aceves . Further victories, including two title defenses against Mario Martínez and ex-world champion Antonio Rivera , followed. In mid-1991 he put down the title and boxed in February 1993 for the first time for the WBA lightweight world championship against Tony Lopez, but lost on points. In the rematch four months later, Thobela won the title, but lost it to Orsubek Nazarow in the first defense in October . He was also subject to this in a second duel in March 1994.

Until his move to the super middleweight division in 1999/2000, he played a number of other fights, including a welterweight draw against Carlos Baldomir . The WBC world title at super middleweight, he won in September 2000 by a knockout win in the twelfth round against Glenn Catley . It was the federation's first World Cup fight on African soil. However, the title lost in the first defense battle in December 2000 to the Canadian Dave Hilton . He lost another WBC title fight in November 2001 against Éric Lucas . This was followed by defeats against Mikkel Kessler , Otis Grant and Lucian Bute .

His last fight was in South Africa in 2006. After his boxing career, he became a funeral director and published his autobiography The Rose of Soweto: The Dingaan Thobela Story .

predecessor	Office	successor
Mauricio Aceves	World lightweight boxing champion ( WBO ) September 22, 1990 - 1991	Giovanni Parisi

predecessor	Office	successor
Tony Lopez	World lightweight boxing champion ( WBA ) June 26, 1993 - October 30, 1993	Orsubek Nazarov

predecessor	Office	successor
Glenn Catley	Super Middleweight Boxing Champion ( WBC ) September 1, 2000 - December 15, 2000	Dave Hilton

Web links

• South African History
• BoxRec