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
- MPs today dismissed a 'virtue-signalling' claim that the UK owes Caribbean nations more than £200bil2024-05-22
Shanghai showcases Miyazaki's magic
Despite saying he would retire seven times, Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki has never truly2024-05-22Kentucky judge declines, for now, to lift ban on executions
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky judge has declined to remove a court injunction that has blocked e2024-05-22- Summer holidays are on the horizon, which means packing season is close.And for many, it's always a2024-05-22
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
She is one of America's most recognisable fashion models.And Bella Hadid continued to show why she i2024-05-22North Carolina boy, 18, wins $2million on one of the first scratch
An 18-year old from Scotland County, North Carolina, has won nearly $2 million during one of his fir2024-05-22
atest comment