Two icons collide next Friday in Denmark, when one of South Africa’s most loved sons pits his skills against one of the Nordic states’ biggest draw-cards.
Former three-time world champion Dingaan ‘The Rose of Soweto†Thobela will be taking on former two-time world champion Mads ‘Golden boy†Larsen. Larsen enjoys a top five rating in all the major sanctioning bodies.
A victory for Thobela would thrust him back into the rankings and affirm him as a world title contender. Given that Thobela has lost his past three fights, many local pundits have written him off. It must be remembered, however, that all three of the fights in question were world title bouts. On the international front he remains a popular draw and besides the Denmark fight he is also fielding calls from Canadian, German and Austrian promoters who are eager to feature him in their tournaments.
‘I may be a senior citizen now,†says Thobela, ‘but it is my dream to win a fourth world title. I know that I have brought joy and excitement to a lot of fans in winning my first three world titles, so, even if the body is weary, knowing my fans are behind me pulls me through and makes me want to bring them more joy and excitement.â€
Larsen is no stranger to South African fight fans. The charismatic contender defeated both Soon Botes in an International Boxing Organisation (IBO) super-middleweight world title in 1998 and then stopped Sugar Boy Malinga in 10 rounds in an IBO/WBF (World Boxing Federation) unification super-middleweight title bout in 1999.
Botes was beating Larsen in their encounter and the South African had the champion in trouble on a number of occasions. He was unable to finish him off, however, and in the end it was the Dane’s powerful body-punching that decided the fight.
Malinga, the only other South African besides Thobela to win a World Boxing Council (WBC) world title, was 43 years old when he took on Larsen. Bearing in mind that Malinga was already 40 when he won his first world title and still went on to finish his career as a three-time world champion, age was not as much of a factor as it is with many fighters.
Malinga adopted the strategy of letting Larsen punch himself out with the idea of knocking him out in the later rounds. Even though Malinga did rock him in the ninth round, he fractured his hand in the process and was unable to follow up on the initiative.
Larsen commented to me on a trip to Denmark shortly after the Malinga bout that he enjoyed fighting South Africans as they always come to fight. He particularly relished the brawl Botes had given him.
Larsen is the bad boy of Danish boxing, having spent his fair share of nights behind bars as a result of drunken altercations and high living. A tattoo covers half his body and, while charming and approachable, he is clearly not the kind of guy you want dating your daughter.
Like Thobela, Larsen is also prone to picking up weight if not kept in regular action. This has resulted at him having a number of bouts in the light-heavyweight division.
He even earned a top ten rating in the WBC in the heavier division, before refocusing on the super-middleweights. He fought five times last year as opposed to the one bout Thobela had.
These two crowd pleasers have been matched twice before. Negotiations for the first bout were called off when Thobela received the opportunity to fight Glen Catley for the WBC world title in September 2000. Thobela won that bout with one of the most ferocious knockouts ever seen in a South African ring.
They were again matched last year, but Thobela was awaiting his clash with WBC world champion Eric Lucas, so declined the offer.
The status of the Thobela-Larsen clash is illustrated by the fact that they will be headlining the bill in Denmark ahead of a WBC intercontinental bout featuring Mikkel Kessler, the man who beat Thobela in his last fight.
While his recent opponents have adopted the hit and run strategy in order to beat the Rose, Larsen is a fighter who enjoys coming forward and getting in the mix of things.
This suits Thobela completely as he is very effective as a counter-puncher and, unlike Botes or Malinga, he is one of the best finishers in the sport. If he catches Larsen, he will knock him out.