The South African Boxing family lost a stalwart of the sport in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Former South African Boxing champion and promoter, Andre Thysse passed on following a battle with Covid-19 and alleged pneumonia after being admitted to hospital last week.
Andre was born in Germiston, South Africa on February 7th, 1969 before settling in Kempton Park with his family.
Through his life and career, the 52-year-old earned the respect of many.
His professional career ran from 1999 through to 2009 during which the man earned the Gauteng super middleweight title, the SA super middleweight title and the Commonwealth super middleweight title.
Andre was almost untouchable with his national belt defending it eight times. Internationally, he was not as successful losing seven fights abroad, fighting some of the world’s best at the time.
One of his biggest wins came in the Commonwealth title fight when he dethroned England’s David Starie at Carnival City in 2003.
Andre challenged for international titles such as the International Boxing Organization (IBO) super middleweight title, the World Boxing Council (WBC) International super middleweight title, the WBC International super middleweight title and more before concluding his professional fighting career in 2009 with a record of 20-8 (12KOs).
Andre was in the importing and selling business, operating in the toy industry, but he was never far away from boxing as his passion for the sport overflowed which saw him start the Real Steel Promotion, while also mentoring fighters.
Andre was well-versed in the rules and regulations of Boxing and he could recite almost any line of the South African Boxing Act in seconds.
He was set to find out this week what Boxing South Africa’s conclusion would be after he had appealed a suspension ruling in which he was found guilty of breaking Covid-19 protocol at a Boxing South Africa-sanctioned event late last year.
“Andre meant a lot to me, he worked with me under Jackie Brice Boxing Promotions for the last eight months,” says Cape Town-based promoter Jackie Brice.
“He was my match-maker and he was my go-to man. But more importantly, Andre was my friend. I am going to miss our conversations. We used to speak every day in the evenings for 20 – 40 minutes, sometimes just about the state of boxing and the problems in the sport.
“Andre was well-liked by everyone, but he was just special to me. When he came to Cape Town he always stayed with me. He was part of my team, he gave me a lot of guidance and he was very knowledgeable about the Boxing Act,” added Jack.
Andre is survived by his wife Judith and three kids (one of them being Brandon Thysse, the current World Boxing Association Pan African Super Welter and International Boxing Organization All-Africa Super Welterweight champion).
–iol.co.za
