Veteran boxing promoter Rodney Berman has insisted that as a young boxer Dingaan Thobela was the best fighter South African had ever seen.
Berman said this as the boxing world is mourning after Thobela, a former South African junior-lightweight titlist, passed away aged 57.
His lifeless body was found at his Langlaagte, Johannesburg, flat on Monday and it looked like he had been dead for a few days by the time it was discovered that he was gone.
“It’s a very sad day. It took everybody by surprise. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that somebody had died. It’s terrible,” Berman said.
“Without doubt, a young Dingaan Thobela was the best South African fighter I’ve ever seen. Every time I saw him I told him that. He was outstanding.”
Thobela defeated Mexican boxer Mauricio Aceves in Brownsville, United States of America (USA), to win the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) lightweight title in September 1990.
Almost three years later, he won the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title following a win over American boxer Tony Lopez at Sun City, Rustenburg, in June 1993.
Thobela went on to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-middleweight title after he stopped Glenn Catley from the United Kingdom at Carnival City in Brakpan.
“When he fought Glenn Catley 24 years ago, that was one of the most dramatic fights I ever promoted. Dingaan was losing hands down. It was like 45 seconds to go and he knocked out Catley,” Berman remembered.
“When (Kevin) Lerena fought for the WBC interim title, I had Dingaan sitting at the main table. On the night of the fight, he was called into the ring because he’s a WBC champion. He was a very nice guy, very modest.” – Monwabisi Jimlongo
