South African boxer Dingaan Thobela, 'The Rose of Soweto,' dies aged 57
Time:2024-05-21 18:18:31 Source:styleViews(143)
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.
Previous:Burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police from the top of 60ft high roof during nine
Next:Children are evacuated from school 'during an exam' after threat made via email
You may also like
- Not so Cool Britannia! Noel Gallagher gives damning verdict on Keir Starmer
- Highlights of women's artistic gymnastics qualification at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
- Xi in My Eyes
- Xi Leads Way in Combating Beijing, Hebei Floods
- French sports minister calls for sanctions after Monaco player tapes over anti
- Winter sports become new custom of China
- Members of Chinese Olympic delegation arrive in Tokyo
- Harry Kane ends England's long wait for a final appearance to end Schmeichel's heroics
- ‘The Blue Angels,’ filmed for IMAX, puts viewers in the ‘box’ with the elite flying squad