By Ron Jackson
Former South African and Commonwealth super middleweight champion Andre Thysse who fought as a professional from 1999 to 2009 died of the Covid 19 virus on Thursday morning. He was 52.
Thysse who was born in Germiston on 24 March 1969 never really looked like a boxer with his long, thin legs, pipe-stem arms and sloping shoulders; no broad chest and bulging muscles.
He won the SA amateur light-middleweight championship in 1989 and 1990. And as a professional, he held the SA and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles.
Andre made his professional debut at the Brixton Palace on 14 April 1999 and scored a points victory over Adriaan Fourie.
Promoted by Jeff Ellis at the Palace, Thysse won his next three fights before losing by a close points decision in a six-rounder to Samson Khoza.
In 2000, he defeated Patrick Simelane and Justice Baloyi before gaining revenge against Khoza with a tenth-round technical knockout to clinch the vacant Gauteng super-middleweight title.
On 23 June 2001 he stopped Thabiso Mogale in nine rounds to win the vacant SA super-middleweight title and in November he retained the title against Xolani Ngemtu.
He subsequently went on to make successful defenses of his SA title against Brendon Hulley and Christopher Buthelezi before challenging the highly rated David Starie from England for the Commonwealth super-middleweight title on 1 March 2003 at Carnival City in Brakpan.
Entering the ring as the underdog, Thysse caused a minor sensation when he outpointed Starie over 12 rounds.
In June of 2003, he went in against IBO champion Brian Magee of Ireland. Fighting in Manchester, the South African was hampered by a damaged rotator cuff muscle. The injury prevented him using his right hand but he produced a plucky performance before being forced to retire in the tenth round.
Thysse then set his sights on the prestigious WBC super-middleweight belt. He challenged Germany’s Markus Beyer in Dresden in February 2004 but lost on points.
On 24 April of the same year, he made the fifth defense of his SA title, beating Mthokozisi Malinga to become the outright holder of an Old Buck belt.
Never one to duck a challenge, Thysse took on Mikkel Kessler of Denmark for the WBC International super-middleweight title in June.
Kessler, whose record stood at 33-0 at the time, stopped the gutsy South African in the eleventh round and went on to win the WBA and WBC super-middleweight belts.
Thysse finished the year in style when he knocked out SA light-heavyweight champion Erasmus Magwaza in a non-title fight in November.
In 2005 he made three successful defenses of his national title, beating Patrick Simelane and Daniel Bruwer on points over 12 rounds, and stopping Andile Tshongolo in the eighth.
However, 2006 was a less successful year. Thysse again went abroad, where he lost on points to respected super-middleweights such as Jurgen Brahmer, Lucien Bute and Adrian Diaconu.
By the time Thysse turned 36, it seemed his career was coming to an end. But he was still confident enough to take on the highly rated Sakio Bika from the Cameroun. They met in Australia for the IBF Australian super-middleweight title. Bika won on points over twelve tough rounds.
Thysse never publicly announced his retirement from the ring and quietly faded out of the limelight. But just as boxing fans started forgetting about him, it was announced that he would fight the rugged Emmanuel Duma on September 29, 2009.
Against the odds, he knocked out Duma in the fifth round to take his record to 20-8; 12.
He was also a useful rugby player and represented the provincial Falcons B team at fullback but he soon realized he would not be able to box and play rugby at the same time. Weighing 76 kg, he decided he would be better suited to boxing.
He subsequently went into business investing his ring earnings renting a warehouse near the OR Tambo International Airport and shops at the Carnival City Casino and in Meyersdal. He also became a boxing promoter.
Thysse was a highly respected opponent, a successful professional, a good craftsman, and a credit to the game.
So young to pass away! So much life left to live. Deadly risk factors associated with the COVID-19 include the following: ARDS, pulmonary emboli, cytokine storm, gross inflammation, septic shock syndrome, etc. If a person has a history of hypertension, advancing age, obesity, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, etc. then you are at higher risk for deadly risk factors. Please stay safe!
RIP Andre Thysse. He got thrown to the wolves later his career but always showed his toughness and heart. Sad news, 52, still so young.
Thanks Ron Jackson for all the years, decades and decades, of telling the stories and history of our South African boxers.
AT rest in peace….tuff strong gutsy boxer.In top 20 list of African pfp list.Smart with his money too.
” dies of Covid”
Or did he? 60,000 people die of the flu annually in the US. Nobody died of the flu last year. Why? Because everything is relabeled “Covid”. Guy comes into the hospital with four bullets in his head. Covid. They make extra money when they write that down.
and the “vaxcine” killed marvin hagler…omg..
You really don’t know what you’re talking about
Hospitals don’t get federal money for treating covid 19 patients? There isn’t monetary gain for the hospital to mark someone as covid 19?
And most states openly admit that their “covid mortality” list is anyone that dies after testing positive within as many as 28 days in some states. That’s a completely variable FACT! It’s a FACT that states have people who died from gun shot wounds and car accidents as “covid deaths”.
Here’s one from as early as May 2020 from Washington State.
https://www.freedomfoundation.com/washington/washington-health-officials-gunshot-victims-counted-as-covid-19-deaths/
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/coroner-state-included-a-murder-suicide-in-grands-covid-deaths/
“The following are some of the key takeaways from the briefing. Quoted statements were made by Katie Hutchinson, a DOH health statistics manager.
1. DOH includes deaths of all persons who tested positive for COVID-19 in its totals, even if the victims died from other causes, such as gunshot wounds.
“Our (DOH COVID-19) dashboard numbers do include any deaths to a person that has tested positive to COVID-19.”
“We don’t always know the cause of death for a death when it is first reported on our dashboard. That is true. Over the course of the outbreak, we have been monitoring and recording the causes of death as we know it. We currently do have some deaths that are being reported that are clearly from other causes. We have about five deaths — less than five deaths — that we know of that are related to obvious other causes. In this case, they are from gunshot wounds.”
One from Colorado.
https://www.kmov.com/news/colorado-coroner-calling-out-how-state-classifies-covid-19-deaths/article_297e3550-4131-11eb-9f01-ffe3e11d0f46.html
“The coroner, Brenda Bock, says two of their five deaths related to COVID-19 were people who died of gunshot wounds.
“these two people had tested positive for COVID but that’s not what killed them,” she said. “The gunshot wound killed them.”
And this is from December. Not last April, DECEMBER!!!!!!
But yeah, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
“Physicians Say Hospitals Are Pressuring ER Docs to List COVID-19 on Death Certificates. Here’s Why”
https://fee DOT
org/articles/physicians-say-hospitals-are-pressuring-er-docs-to-list-covid-19-on-death-certificates-here-s-why/
Oh, ok thanks. I wouldn’t ever doubt anything the Freedom Foundation says on the subject.
That is not true at all
He just provided evidence, but we know that people on the left always refute verifiable evidence. You’re just going to run with your narrative no matter what.
Yeah, I was sceptical until he said they were FACTS, all in CAPITAL LETTERS. I wouldn’t have been convinced if he said they were merely facts.
He proved evidence? By what, citing what hardcore conservative publications say on the subject? That my friend, is not verifiable evidence. Besides, this post is about a boxer who died. There’s really no need to bring your political beliefs into the matter.
check your facts before making comments like this!
In a real pandemic, like the Black Death, people were dying left and right – like “bring out your dead!” dying. 2020 actually had a lower mortality rate than a normal year.
The controlled media censors anyone that contradicts their “party line”, including the most highly credentialed doctors, including the inventor of that type of vaccine himself.
Some doctors are saying that those who are “fully vaccinated” have only 2 or 3 years left to live because the experimental – not approved by the FDA, not even tested – vaccines destroy the body’s immune system, so have fun parroting the talking heads on your tv sets while you can, suckers.
You’re aware he died in South Africa, right?
but cool that the flu went away and trump won.
hydroxy started working again
99.994 % survival rate…are you nuts or lying?
Those thinking like that are the ones now dying from the very contagious form. Hard to feel sorry for them.
What? 40 percentage of the people in the hospital from covid in the UK are vaccinated.
You are dumb. Keep listening to the news. They are definitely telling you the truth. They definitely aren’t lying to you because they are an entertainment program doing whatever they can to get your ratings. No, the news is honorable and aways telling the truth, just like politicians. No politician would ever lie to you. No!!!!
The news and politicians, the most trusted among us!!
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/60-people-being-admitted-uk-hospitals-had-two-covid-jabs-adviser-2021-07-19/
They came out and said in a press conference and a tweet that 60% of the people in the hospital for covid were vaccinated. They later came out and said that the number was wrong and the real number was only 40%.
Ahahahahaha almost half. But you keep patting yourself on the back and calling yourself a hero for getting an experimental vaccine that has zero data on possible long term effects.
You criticise the major news media and then use a major news media link to back up your argument. So, they are lying when a story doesn’t fit your agenda, but provide legitimacy when one does?
So you admit they are liars? Or do you believe every word they tell you and you are just trying to have a “gotcha” moment because you have no actual response to the facts?
And regardless if it’s posted by MSM or not it is a verifiable fact. Would you like me to search for a link from a none MSM source? Would that make you feel better? Or would you just say “oh yeah, the MSM is lying, whatever you say”. The link has the tweet from the UK Chief Science Advisor.
https://mobile.twitter.com/uksciencechief/status/1417204235356213252?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1417204235356213252%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reuters.com%2Fbusiness%2Fhealthcare-pharmaceuticals%2F60-people-being-admitted-uk-hospitals-had-two-covid-jabs-adviser-2021-07-19%2F
Here’s the direct tweet. No MSM middle man. Happy? Does that make it different now? I’m I still a hypocrite because I tried to dumb myself down to your level and post a MSM article hoping that would make it sink in but no, you are in denial. You just wanna place Twitter fingers and talk down to me and simp for the MSM and the establishment. Good job. They really needed the help.
My ass. This is fake news
Caligula, so he didn’t die?
Of “covid”??? NO! They have never isolated this “virus”.. so how in the world do they know how to identify it, much less have a shot to fix it???? All a hoax.
Ask fightnews to stop dictating views.. I can’t respond because there’s no 1st amendment here. It’s ok to have a view.. as long as it aligns with their own agenda.
Prayers…