Dave Hilton Jr. vs. Dingaan Thobela was a professional boxing match held on December 15, 2000 in Montreal, Canada. It was contested for the World Boxing Council super middleweight world championship.^[12]

After compiling an amateur record of 80–3, Dingaan Thobela turned professional in 1986 and he won the World Boxing Organization lightweight world title in 1990 by defeating Mauricio Aceves. After defending the belt three times,he relinquished the title and then challenged WBA lightweight world champion Tony Lopez in 1993 and lost a decision. Later that year he rematched Lopez and won a decision to win the title. Thobela had difficult making the lightweight weight limit and he lost the title in his first defense to Orzubek Nazarov.He also lost again in a rematch to Nazarov in 1994.

Thobela later moved up significantly in weight class,and on September 1, 2000 he took on WBC world super middleweight champion Glenn Catley, Thobela defeated Catley via 12th round knockout in only his second fight at the super middleweight limit. This helped set up the Hilton Jr.-Thobela match.

Back in the 1980's there was speculation that Davey Hilton Jr. was going to challenge Aaron Pryor for the WBA junior welterweight belt. The Canadian's bout with Thobela was his first world title shot. Thobela hailed from South Africa. Hilton was injured in a motorcycle accident in the 1980s. Before being injured, he defeated Dennis Horne in 1985 at the Riviera (hotel and casino) in Las Vegas, Nevada to win the WBC Continental Americas welterweight title.

Boxing trainer Russ Anber was quoted as saying, "Someone once asked (celebrated fight trainer) Angelo Dundee who was the best welterweight in the world in the 1980's and he said Davey Hilton Jr."

After a professional boxing career of nineteen years, Dave Hilton finally won a world title when he recorded a split decision win over Thobela.

Hilton started fighting professionally in 1981 and was inactive for all of 1986 and 1987 due to injury.

Nineteen years after his professional debut he won a major world title.

Hilton attacked Thobela's body throughout the fight with clean combinations.

Thobela's punches lacked snap and he very rarely landed a clean punch throughout the fight.

Thobela returned to the ring at the age of 40 and after an absence of nearly two years on October 27, 2006 when he challenged Soon Botes for the South African light heavyweight title at the Wembley Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. Many were surprised that the bout was sanctioned as Thobela failed to make the weight and his inactivity and age. Although Thobela dropped Botes he was clearly not conditioned to fight and did not come out for the tenth round, it was his last boxing match.

Hilton finished his career in 2007 with a record of 42 wins, 2 losses, and 2 draws.

He scored twenty six knockouts and he was never stopped.^[4] He did not defend his title.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, recognized the World Boxing Council belt in 2018 as the belt was on his desk during his briefing to the media in which he pardoned former heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson.^[5]

Everipedia's #1 editor Matthew E. O'Neil was on a June 18, 2020 episode of the Fight News Unlimited Combat Sports Show with Rich Bergeron. Bergeron is a former writer for the New England based newspaper The Patriot Ledger. On the program O'Neil spoke about his time in the United States Air Force Martial Arts program. O'Neil spoke with Dave Hilton Jr. on Facebook in June 2020. Hilton asked about O'Neil's background and they spoke about the current boxing scene.