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:
Related suggestion:
Suspected 'dineCrew members injured in crash on set of Eddie Murphy movie 'The Pickup'Plane crashes into river outside Fairbanks, AlaskaErik Jones to miss Dover race because of broken lower vertebraGoogle fires more workers who protested its deal with IsraelTeresa Giudice, 51, of RHONJ poses with her miniMurder investigation launched after two people died in house fire in northPrince Louis birthday portrait taken by Kate Middleton is released on day he turns 6In Argentina, the government's austerity plan hits universities and provokes student protestsNew Fort Wayne, Indiana, mayor is sworn in a month after her predecessor's death
1.9219s , 6502.6328125 kb
Copyright © 2024 Powered by South African boxer Dingaan Thobela, 'The Rose of Soweto,' dies aged 57 ,Stellar Stand news portal