Gerrie Coetzee obit

Former world heavyweight champion Gerrie Coetzee dies

 

He was not on the list.

Gerrie Coetzee, the first South African to win a version of the world heavyweight title, has died after a short struggle with cancer. 

He was 67. 

Coetzee failed in two attempts to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) title, against John Tate in 1979 and Mike Weaver in 1980, but he made no mistake in his third attempt, knocking out Michael Dokes in the 10th round in 1983. 

Dubbed the Boksburg Bomber, Coetzee led a golden era in local heavyweight boxing featuring Kallie Knoetze and Mike Schutte, and he was the standout fighter as other contenders emerged, like Pierre Coetzer and Jimmy Abbott. 

He underwent surgeries to his broken right hand, which was called a bionic hand in local media. 

Coetzee made his mark internationally when he demolished former world champion Leon Spinks in one round to win an eliminator for the WBA crown vacated by Muhammad Ali. 

He took on Tate in front of 80,000 spectators at Loftus Versfeld, probably the biggest fight in SA history, but lost on points over 15 rounds. 

He was stopped in the 13th round by Weaver at Sun City the next year. But Coetzee moved to the US and fought himself back into contention after a draw against unbeaten American prospect Pinklon Thomas. 

In his next bout Coetzee knocked out Dokes in Richfield. 

After a failed attempt to organise a unification against Larry Holmes, the lineal champion, Coetzee returned to Sun City to make his defence against Greg Page in December 1984. 

But he was controversially stopped in the eighth round that was longer than the scheduled three minutes, because the timekeeper, so engrossed in the action, forgot to ring the bell. 

Coetzee was made the number one contender as consolation, but he lost it to Englishman Frank Bruno on a first-round knockout in 1986, effectively ending his career though he made a couple of comebacks in the 1990s. 

Coetzee turned to promoting and played a role in getting heavyweight Frans Botha to the US. He also promoted Dingaan Thobela briefly.