The death of former South African boxing champion Dingaan “Rose of Soweto” Thobela is a loss felt deeply by many. The 57-year-old was discovered dead on Monday morning in his apartment in Mayfair, Johannesburg, South Africa, after battling an undisclosed illness.
Reports indicate that the renowned boxer, hailing from Chiawelo, Soweto, had been grappling with health challenges for some time. His childhood friend Eddie Mutungutungu revealed that all attempts to reach him had been unsuccessful.
“He was strangely unavailable on his mobile, and his family, accompanied by police, managed to gain access to his place of residence and found he had passed on,” Mutungutungu told Sowetan.
A quick highlight of his achievements as a boxer
- The Rose of Soweto progressed from a prolific amateur boxer to a three-time world champion as a professional.
- He turned pro in 1986 and won the WBO lightweight title in 1990 after beating Mauricio Aceves.
- Dingaan “Rose of Soweto” Thobela held three world titles in two-weight divisions – the first two being the WBO and WBA lightweight belts in the lightweight divisions.
- Battling to make the weight, he lost the title in his first defence 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.
- In September 2000, the “Rose” finally bloomed as Thobela won the most prestigious WBC super middleweight belt via a 12th-round stoppage victory over defending champion Glen Catley at Carnival City in Brakpan.
- He fought against Tony Lopez for the WBA lightweight title and Glenn Catley to win the WBC super-middleweight title.
- Thobela was one of the world’s standout fighters in a golden period of South African boxing.
Apart from being a boxer, Dingaan “Rose of Soweto” Thobela was a husband and father. He separated from his common-law wife Sandra with whom he had two kids; Ntombi and Dingaan Thobela Junior.
