THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1953: Olympic bronze medallist Willie Toweel makes his debut as a professional boxer, beating Jackie O’Connor on points over four rounds at the Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg. Toweel, brother of world bantamweight champion Vic, went on to win SA titles in an unprecedented four classes from bantamweight to welterweight.

1976: Vincent Tshabalala, a former motor mechanic based in

Soweto, wins his first international golf tournament, taking the French Open title by two strokes. He fired a final-round 67 to finish on 16-under-par 272. He won R5,712 and a goat from the West Rand Bantu Golf Union.

1977: Peter “Terror” Mathebula meets Joe Ngidi junior for the fourth and final time, putting his black SA flyweight title on the line. Mathebula, leading Ngidi 2-1, won when the challenger quit in the seventh round of their contest at the Westridge tennis stadium in Durban. Mathebula became the first black South African to win a world title three years later.

2001: SA take an unassailable 4-1 lead in the seven-match ODI series against the West Indies, beating the hosts by seven wickets in Bridgetown.