The ever-popular Dingaan Thobela goes in search of a third world title next month Deon Potgieter Already a South African boxing legend, the -Rose of Soweto+, Dingaan Thobela, now stands on the verge of writing his name in the echelons of boxing history as an international legend. Thobela was all but written off by his critics at the beginning of the year, but surprised detractors and reaffirmed the hope of his fans by winning the national super- middleweight title on February 19 at Carnival City. He dropped Soon Botes twice en route to a majority decision. Thobela, a former two-time lightweight world champion, having held the World Boxing Organisation and the World Boxing Association (WBA) titles, challenges American Glen Catley on September 1 for the World Boxing Council (WBC) super- middleweight world title. If successful, he will be one of a handful of fistic greats who have won credible world titles in weight divisions far removed from each other. This achievement would place him alongside such ring luminaries as Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Thomas -the Hit-Man+ Hearns.
Unlike the titles he has been contesting in recent years – those of the International Boxing Organisation and the World Boxing Federation, which would have added no value to his international standing – the WBC+s is a bona fide title. Catley, although not revered as a great world champion, is acknowledged by the Boxing Rankings Writers Poll as the fourth-best super-middleweight in the world. A win over Catley would skyrocket the Rose into the big league again and open the way for numerous big pay days.
-The winner of this bout will face the International Boxing Federation super- middleweight world champion Sven Otke in November in a world title unification bout,+ says Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves, who is promoting the bout to be staged at Carnival City. -If Thobela wins this he can expect a pay day of around R2,5-million against Otke. The loser of the unification bout will fight on the under-card of the winner+s next defence and then the two fighters will meet in a rematch. That means if Thobela beats Catley, he could earn close to R5-million in his next three bouts.+ Besides the financial rewards a victory would bring, Thobela is fired on by pride to do right and by his fans who have stood by him over the years. -Since losing my WBA world title seven years ago, I+ve gone through a lot of frustrating times,+ says Thobela. -At those times my fans stood by me and helped me through. I+m thankful to them for always believing in me and I+m grateful that I now have an opportunity to live up to their expectations.+
The Rose of Soweto has held firm to the dream that he would one day win a third world title – a dream his fans have shared with him. -If the Rose wins, it+ll blow the roof off Carnival City,+ says former national featherweight champion and now promoter Tsietse Maretloane. -Catley+s not an exceptional fighter, but he+s all heart and he+s extremely tough,+ says Berman. -If it goes the distance, it would be very hard for Dingaan to win.+ The champion was staggered in the second round of his title- winning bout against Markus Beyer, yet was able to recover and come back to stop the big-hitting German in the last round of their bout. -I don+t see the fight lasting five rounds,+ says Elias Shabalala, Thobela+s trainer. -Dingaan will catch him and he+ll put him down.+ Thobela, a confident glint in his eyes, adds: -I+ll box him, if I need to fight, I+ll fight. Whatever I have to do to win, that+s what I+ll do. I know what it is to be a world champion. I+ve waited seven years to get another chance to win a world title and I+m going to use it.+ Catley is a strong come-forward fighter who has a big punch, having scored 20 knockouts in his 26 wins with three losses. In addition to that he has gone 12 rounds in four of his past five bouts. He won the world title by stopping Beyer in Germany and is certainly not a fighter to be intimidated by fighting on foreign soil. -There+s definitely more pressure on me than on Catley fighting in South Africa,+ says Thobela. -Everybody wants to see me win.+
Thobela still has one of the best right uppercuts in the business, as well as a devastating left hook. Twenty-five of his bouts have ended via the short route in 39 wins with six losses and two draws. -Some might say Dingaan is getting long in the tooth,+ says Boxing World editor Bert Blewett, -but I certainly wouldn+t write him off. He showed in his bout against Botes that he still possesses some of the skills and punching power which made him such a great fighter. Dingaan also has the ability to rise to the occasion. If he+s in the right frame of mind and I think he is, he could do it.+ This bout will be the first WBC world title fight to be staged in South Africa. It will be televised on ESPN in the United States, as well as on Sky pay-per-view television in Europe. -The whole world will be watching,+ says Berman -Even if Dingaan loses, if he puts up a good fight he could still be offered a number of big bouts.+ Although South Africa boasts a number of world champions, mostly of lesser organisations, there is a dearth of truly charismatic boxers at the moment. Thobela and Baby Jake Matlala possess wide public appeal, while the rest seem to fade in comparison. Don+t get me wrong, we have some tremendously talented fighters – Lehlo Ledwaba and Zolani Petelo to name but two – but there seems to be a spark missing when it comes to attracting audiences. A win by Thobela could ignite interest in boxing again.
South African sport is in need of a big win. It+s a tall order and Thobela will have to dig deep to pull it off.