This week, the famous South African fighter Dingan Tobela was found unexpectedly deceased at the age of 57, and according to his friend Eddie Mtugu, he became worried because he couldn't get in touch with the former world champion, so he went to Tobera's apartment in Johannesburg to check and found that he had no vital signs.
"Strangely, a call to Tobera's mobile phone could not reach him, and Tobela's family, accompanied by the police, managed to enter the apartment where he lived and found that Tobela had died," Mtugu said. ”
The specific reason for Tobera's death was not officially disclosed in detail, but he was plagued by a variety of diseases before, including myocardial infarction and diabetes.
The news of Tobera's passing came as a surprise to many, but his fellow South African and former IBO welterweight champion Kevin Lereiner wrote on social media: "Rest in peace South African legend Tobera, never forget your talent and determination in the ring, thank you for your encouragement and motivation to support me, believe in my abilities, push me to my fullest potential."
Born in Soweto, South Africa, Tobela has a cool nickname – "The Rose of Soweto". In an interview with The Ring, Tobela reflected on his upbringing, saying, "Soweto helped me become who I am today, I came from a slum and grew up with nothing. When I was 3 months old, my mother abandoned me and I was taken to my grandmother, who raised me, and I was also bullied by my elders, and boxing became a form of defense. Norman (Coach Initiation) had confidence in me and he took me into the amateur game. Norman wasn't there 80 percent of the time, but he would train me, prepare me, and then face my opponent in the ring with me because Norman felt I was talented enough to take on anyone. ”
After an 80-3 record in his amateur years, Tobera turned professional in 1986 and four years later in 1990 he defeated Mauricio Aceves to claim the WBO lightweight title.
From 1993 to 1994, Tobela fell to the bottom of his career after two consecutive defeats against the famous Kyrgyz fighter Ozubek Nazarov.
After 1994, Tobera continued to climb the division as he gained weight, but also lost some fights, just when the outside world thought he could not re-emerge, Tobera, who had risen to the 168-pound super middleweight division, set up a fight in South Africa to challenge the then WBC champion Glenn Catley, when Tobera was past his prime, facing the young and vigorous Catley, he was clearly at a disadvantage, by the end of the match, Tobera was at a disadvantage on the scorecards of the three judges, but with more than 10 seconds left before the end, Catley's physical strength was overdrawn, and Tobela seized the opportunity to punch hard in a row, and finally at 2:57, won by TKO, and became the world champion for the third time.
After losing his title in December 2000 against David Hilton, Tobera retired in 2006 and suffered seven straight defeats, finishing with a 40-14-2 record and 26 knockouts. Now that the deceased is gone, I wish Tobela welling in the other world.