BOXING
Thobela's comeback bid flops
2 December 2002
Dingaan Thobela on Friday suffered his 10th loss in his boxing career when Danish fighter Mikkel Kessler defeated him on points at the Falconer Centre in Copenhagen for the vacant International Boxing Association super middleweight title.
The youthful Kessler won all the 12 rounds convincingly, according to the judges' score cards, improving the 23-year-old's record to 29 wins with 22 knockouts and landing him the IBA super middleweight crown.
Thobela, who was hoping to win a fourth world title, admitted after the fight that Kessler was too good. Said Thobela of his opponent: "He fought well and was the busiest man. He threw more punches than I did and was very strong."
Thobela also acknowledged that Kessler was as good as his record suggested: "It was the first time that I had bombarded an opponent with an avalanche of punches yet that opponent still stood there in front of me."
But Thobela, who is 37 years old, said he was not
prepared to quit yet. "I'm not done yet. I will sit down with my trainer (Norman Hlabane) and plan my future. I am not making any excuses but if I can be given a rematch I promise I will do well."
This is Thobela's third consecutive loss after he was outpointed by Dave Hilton in December 2000 and by the hard hitting Eric Lucas in November 2001. All these three losses have been incurred in the super middleweight division, an unfamiliar territory for Thobela who has campaigned as a lightweight for most of his career.
Some of his admirers argue that Thobela should acknowledge that his power, venom and determination he possessed while campaigning in the lightweight division have deserted him. "Time is against him. Dingaan is a successful businessman and he should rather direct his energies into his businesses," an admirer was quoted as saying.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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