SA boxer Dingaan Thobela, ‘The Rose of Soweto,’ found dead at his house

Former South African world boxing champion Dingaan Thobela, nicknamed ‘The Rose of Soweto’, was on Monday found dead at his home in Johannesburg after suffering ill health.

A family member confirmed the death of the 57 year old former boxer to AFP.

“When mobile phone calls to him went unanswered, we came to his flat, gained entry and discovered he had died,” the family member confirmed.

Thobela boxed for 16 years since 1990 and had an illustrious career winning three world titles in two weight divisions in the space of ten years.

He won the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) lightweight title in 1990 and clinched the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight crown in 1993.

This was before winning the most prestigious World Boxing Council (WBC) super-middleweight belt in 2000.

Thobela’s death comes two weeks after the burial of another South African boxer in Joseph Makaringe who was a welterweight champion.

Makaringe died after a short illness. Telly Africa