Dingaan Thobela

Dingaan Thobela
Statistics
Real name	Dingaan Bongane Thobela
Nickname(s)	The Rose of Soweto
Weight(s)	Lightweight Super Middleweight
Height	5 ft 7.5 in (1.71 m)
Nationality	South African
Born	(1966-09-24) 24 September 1966 (age 54) Soweto, South Africa, South Africa
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	56
Wins	40
Wins by KO	26
Losses	14
Draws	2
No contests	0

Dingaan Bongane Thobela (born 24 September 1966 in Soweto, South Africa), is a former professional boxer, a former two time lightweight world champion and a former super middleweight world champion.

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 Orzubek Nazarov, 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 Glenn Catley, winning the belt via a 12th-round KO in only his second fight at the higher weight limit.^[1] He again lost the title in his first defense to Dave Hilton Jr 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 for the WBC Super Middleweight Title in 2001 as well as later champions Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute.

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 for the South African light heavyweight title at the in Johannesburg, South Africa.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

Professional boxing record[]

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
56	Loss	40-14-2	Soon Botes	RTD	10 (12), 3:00	27 Oct 2006	Wembley Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
55	Loss	40-13-2	Lucian Bute	TKO	4 (8), 1:22	3 Dec 2004	Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
54	Loss	40-12-2	Martin Nielsen	UD	6	13 Dec 2003	Falconer Centeret, Frederiksberg, Denmark
53	Loss	40-11-2	Otis Grant	UD	8	22 Nov 2003	Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
52	Loss	40-10-2	Mikkel Kessler	UD	12	29 Nov 2002	Falconer Centeret, Frederiksberg, Denmark	For vacant IBA super middleweight title
51	Loss	40-9-2	Eric Lucas	TKO	8 (12), 2:15	30 Nov 2001	Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	For WBC World super middleweight title
50	Loss	40-8-2	Dave Hilton, Jr.	SD	12	15 Dec 2000	Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Lost WBC World super middleweight title
49	Win	40-7-2	Glenn Catley	KO	12 (12), 2:53	1 Sep 2000	Big Top Arena, Carnival City, Brakpan, Gauteng, South Africa	Won WBC World Super Middleweight title
48	Win	39-7-2	Soon Botes	MD	12	27 Oct 2006	Carnival City, Brakpan, Gauteng, South Africa	Won South African Super Middleweight Title
47	Loss	38-7-2	Cornelius Carr	MD	12	31 Oct 1999	David Lloyd Tennis Centre, Raynes Park, London, United Kingdom	For WBF Middleweight Title
46	Win	38-6-2	Adrian Walter Daneff	TKO	7 (12)	6 Mar 1999	Nasrec Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa	Won Vacant IBO welterweight title
45	Draw	37–6–2	Carlos Baldomir	SD	12	28 Oct 1998	Nasrec Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa	For vacant WBC International welterweight title
44	Win	37–6–1	Gary Murray	TKO	4 (10)	8 Oct 1997	Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa
43	Loss	36–6–1	Willy Wise	SD	10	22 Mar 1997	Wembley Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
42	Loss	36–5–1	Geoff McCreesh	KO	2 (8), 2:59	5 Nov 1996	Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa
41	Win	36–4–1	Wayne Boudreaux	KO	6 (10)	25 Jun 1996	Morula Sun Casino, Mabopane, North-West, South Africa
40	Win	35–4–1	Booker Kidd	TKO	3 (10)	25 Jun 1996	Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA
39	Win	34–4–1	Mark McCreath	TKO	9 (10)	25 Nov 1995	Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa
38	Win	33–4–1	Jaime Balboa	KO	8 (10)	26 Sep 1995	Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa
37	Win	32–4–1	Santiago Alfonso Ahumada	TKO	2 (10), 1:34	19 Aug 1995	Superbowl, Sun City, North-West, South Africa
36	Win	31–4–1	Kenny Vice	TKO	2 (10)	6 May 1995	Village Green, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
35	Win	30–4–1	Andreas Panayi	TKO	2 (10)	11 Feb 1995	Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa
34	Loss	29–4–1	Karl Taylor	PTS	8	29 Nov 1994	Cannock, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
33	Loss	29–3–1	Orzubek Nazarov	UD	12	19 Mar 1994	Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, Gauteng, South Africa	For WBA World Lightweight title
32	Loss	29–2–1	Orzubek Nazarov	UD	12	30 Oct 1993	Nasrec Indoor Arena, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa	Lost WBA World Lightweight title
31	Win	29–1–1	Tony Lopez	UD	12	26 Jun 1993	Superbowl, Sun City, North-West, South Africa	Won WBA World Lightweight title
30	Loss	28–1–1	Tony Lopez	UD	12	12 Feb 1993	Arco Arena, Sacramento, California, USA	For WBA lightweight title
29	win	28–0–1	Tony Foster	PTS	8	31 Oct 1992	Earls Court Exhibition Hall, Kensington, London, United Kingdom
28	win	27–0–1	Peter Till	TKO	9 (10)	15 Aug 1992	Indoor Centre, Springs, Gauteng, South Africa
27	Win	26–0–1	Antonio Rivera	UD	12	14 Sep 1991	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa	Retained WBO World Lightweight title
26	win	25–0–1	Amancio Castro	UD	10	13 Jul 1991	Standard Bank Arena Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
25	Win	24–0–1	Mario Martínez	UD	12	2 Mar 1991	Exhibit Hall, San Jose, California, USA	Retained WBO World Lightweight title
24	Win	23–0–1	Mauricio Aceves	SD	12	22 Sep 1990	Intl. Convention Center, Brownsville, Texas, USA	Won WBOWorld Lightweight title
23	win	22–0–1	Pascual Aranda	TKO	4 (10)	23 Jul 1990	Dallas, Texas, USA
22	win	21–0–1	Mauricio Aceves	RTD	7 (10), 3:00	27 Apr 1990	Point Cadet Plaza, Biloxi, Mississippi, USA

See also[]

• List of WBC world champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of WBO world champions

Notes[]

Further reading[]

• Potgieter, Deon (2009) Rose of Soweto: The Dingaan Thobela Story Penguin, Johannesburg, South Africa, ISBN 978-0-14-302615-0

External links[]

• Boxing record for Dingaan Thobela from BoxRec