South African boxer Dingaan Thobela, 'The Rose of Soweto,' dies aged 57
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African boxer Dingaan Thobela, a two-weight world champion known as “The Rose of Soweto,” has died, the ministry of sports said on Tuesday. He was 57.
Thobela won the WBO lightweight title in 1990 and the WBA lightweight title in 1993, when he beat American Tony Lopez in a rematch. He moved up to super-middleweight and beat Britain’s Glenn Catley for the WBC belt with a 12th-round stoppage in 2000, his finest moment.
He finished with a professional record of 40 wins, 14 losses and two draws.
Thobela hailed from the famed Johannesburg township of Soweto and was widely popular in his home country as his rise coincided with South African boxing’s heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was one of several world-class Black fighters to emerge during the last years of apartheid, when boxing was one of the few South African sports to allow Black athletes to compete on the world stage and gain international recognition.
Related articles
Kristin Cavallari, 37, ignores critics of her age
Kristin Cavallari is enjoying a romantic rendezvous with her much younger cowboy lover Mark Estes in2024-05-22- Beijing, February23 (Youth.cn) -On February 22nd, 2024, citizens were seen selecting books inside th2024-05-22
Qiongzhou Strait faced peak of return travel during Spring Festival migration
Beijing, February17 (Youth.cn) -On February 16th, 2024, at the Haikou Xinhai Passenger Transport Hub2024-05-22Hangzhou Asian Games opening new, inspiring chapter for China's sports undertaking
By Ji Fang (People's Daily) 09:21, October 07, 2023This photo shows a view of the Hangzhou Olympic S2024-05-22Revealed: Brit tourist, 19, subjected to sex attack in Majorca 'was gang
A 19-year-old British tourist who was subjected to a horrific sex attack in Majorca 'was gang-raped2024-05-22People visit 2024 Artist Project in Canada
People visit the 2024 Artist Project in Toronto, Canada, on April 12, 2024. (Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinh2024-05-22
atest comment