Dingaan Thobela
Dingaan Bongane Thobela (born 24 September 1966 in Soweto, South Africa), is a former professional boxer, a former two time lightweight world champion & a former super middleweight world champion
| 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 |  |
| Born | 24 September 1966 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 |
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.he was later shown to have loaded his padding in his gloves[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 Soon Botes for the South African light heavyweight title at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. 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.
Professional boxing record
| 56 fights | 40 wins | 14 losses |
| By knockout | 26 | 4 |
| By decision | 14 | 10 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No contests | 0 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Loss | 40-14-2 | |
RTD | 10 (12), 3:00 | 27 Oct 2006 | |
|
| 55 | Loss | 40-13-2 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
TKO | 4 (8), 1:22 | 3 Dec 2004 | |
|
| 54 | Loss | 40-12-2 |  |
UD | 6 | 13 Dec 2003 | |
|
| 53 | Loss | 40-11-2 | |
UD | 8 | 22 Nov 2003 | |
|
| 52 | Loss | 40-10-2 | |
UD | 12 | 29 Nov 2002 | |
For vacant IBA super middleweight title |
| 51 | Loss | 40-9-2 | |
TKO | 8 (12), 2:15 | 30 Nov 2001 | |
For WBC World super middleweight title |
| 50 | Loss | 40-8-2 | |
SD | 12 | 15 Dec 2000 | |
Lost WBC World super middleweight title |
| 49 | Win | 40-7-2 |  |
KO | 12 (12), 2:53 | 1 Sep 2000 | |
Won WBC World Super Middleweight title |
| 48 | Win | 39-7-2 | |
MD | 12 | 27 Oct 2006 | |
Won South African Super Middleweight Title |
| 47 | Loss | 38-7-2 | |
MD | 12 | 31 Oct 1999 | |
For WBF Middleweight Title |
| 46 | Win | 38-6-2 |  |
TKO | 7 (12) | 6 Mar 1999 | |
Won Vacant IBO welterweight title |
| 45 | Draw | 37–6–2 | |
SD | 12 | 28 Oct 1998 | |
For vacant WBC International welterweight title |
| 44 | Win | 37–6–1 | |
TKO | 4 (10) | 8 Oct 1997 | |
|
| 43 | Loss | 36–6–1 |  |
SD | 10 | 22 Mar 1997 | |
|
| 42 | Loss | 36–5–1 | |
KO | 2 (8), 2:59 | 5 Nov 1996 | |
|
| 41 | Win | 36–4–1 | |
KO | 6 (10) | 25 Jun 1996 | |
|
| 40 | Win | 35–4–1 | |
TKO | 3 (10) | 25 Jun 1996 | |
|
| 39 | Win | 34–4–1 | |
TKO | 9 (10) | 25 Nov 1995 | |
|
| 38 | Win | 33–4–1 |  |
KO | 8 (10) | 26 Sep 1995 | |
|
| 37 | Win | 32–4–1 | |
TKO | 2 (10), 1:34 | 19 Aug 1995 | |
|
| 36 | Win | 31–4–1 | |
TKO | 2 (10) | 6 May 1995 | |
|
| 35 | Win | 30–4–1 | |
TKO | 2 (10) | 11 Feb 1995 | |
|
| 34 | Loss | 29–4–1 | |
PTS | 8 | 29 Nov 1994 | |
|
| 33 | Loss | 29–3–1 |  |
UD | 12 | 19 Mar 1994 | |
For WBA World Lightweight title |
| 32 | Loss | 29–2–1 | |
UD | 12 | 30 Oct 1993 | |
Lost WBA World Lightweight title |
| 31 | Win | 29–1–1 | |
UD | 12 | 26 Jun 1993 | |
Won WBA World Lightweight title |
| 30 | Loss | 28–1–1 | |
UD | 12 | 12 Feb 1993 | |
For WBA lightweight title |
| 29 | win | 28–0–1 | |
PTS | 8 | 31 Oct 1992 | |
|
| 28 | win | 27–0–1 | |
TKO | 9 (10) | 15 Aug 1992 | |
|
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 |  |
UD | 12 | 14 Sep 1991 | |
Retained WBO World Lightweight title |
| 26 | win | 25–0–1 |  |
UD | 10 | 13 Jul 1991 | |
|
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | |
UD | 12 | 2 Mar 1991 | |
Retained WBO World Lightweight title |
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | |
SD | 12 | 22 Sep 1990 | |
Won WBOWorld Lightweight title |
| 23 | win | 22–0–1 | |
TKO | 4 (10) | 23 Jul 1990 | |
|
| 22 | win | 21–0–1 | |
RTD | 7 (10), 3:00 | 27 Apr 1990 | |
Notes
- "Catley loses world crown". BBC Sports. 2 September 2000. Archived from the original on 23 June 2003.
Further reading
- Potgieter, Deon (2009) Rose of Soweto: The Dingaan Thobela Story Penguin, Johannesburg, South Africa, ISBN 978-0-14-302615-0
External links
| Sporting positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minor world boxing titles | ||||
| Vacant Title last held by José Antonio Rivera |
IBO welterweight champion 6 March 1999 – 1999 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Peter Malinga | ||
| Major world boxing titles | ||||
| Preceded by Mauricio Aceves |
WBO lightweight champion 22 September 1990 – 1991 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Giovanni Parisi | ||
| Preceded by Tony Lopez |
WBA lightweight champion 26 June 1993 – 30 October 1993 |
Succeeded by Orzubek Nazarov | ||
| Preceded by Glenn Catley |
WBC super-middleweight champion 1 September 2000 – 15 December 2000 |
Succeeded by Dave Hilton, Jr. | ||
Authority control  |
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