Frank Bruno vs. George Foreman in 1991

:blood

Dude, I think Coetzee was one of the better contenders of the 80s, I know his story and career very well. But you can throw all that out the window when its plain as day he didn't show up for a fight.

 

Logic and context has left the building...

Let anarchy reign.

 

How manny rated HW fighters did foreman want to fight who were within 15lb of his weight? none. No bowe, bruno, no lewis,no bonecusher, no rudduck, not even old man holmes. foreman by passed these types of rated heavyweights for a reason.

Frank Bruno was too much of a fighter for old george foreman who would have struggled to look as good against the fighters joe bugner beat like greg page, quick tillis and david bey who were active when forerman was picking fights agianst ken lakuster, big foot martin and getting a title shot out of beating terry andison.

 

maybe, but frank took that fight. foreman would not have. Its always easier after the event to say a fighter who lost did not show up (because I often say it myself when it suits me) but its always worth noting how high his stock was at that time.

 

-Bruno didn't fight any of these guys either, save Lewis and Bruno in losing efforts. Stewart is the same size as Bruno anyway so there goes that.

-Foreman had been out of boxing for 10 years, and I would take his win over a fairly game Cooney over Bugner beating some fat fallen stars in his hometown. Is this what we've come to, blowing up Bugner's "wins" over Page and Bey as something special?

 

-Not sure what brought you to that conclusion. That version of Coetzee is not a huge step up from the Cooney, Foreman knocked out.

-What stock? Coetzee was regarded as "done" going into the fight, it was a stepping stone for Bruno over a former name, nothing more.

 

please!! cooney had not beat a rated fighter for 9 years and came out of retiremant to face george.

regarded as "done" after the fight. going into the fight coetzee was current #1 WBA contender, owed a shot on account of the long round and the fact he was still winning (against a guy who twice decked the guy who nearly beat Holmes) and was still the only man to KO dokes and draw with pinklon thomas the guy regarded as the best HW in the world at that time.

 

I'm a fan of Big Frank but Coetzee was nothing here mate.

 

page and bey were gate keepers. george never faced any of those in his comeback. foreman got a pass out of his old man gimmicks and burgers schtick. He prefered getting pushed around by cruiser weights and the like.

 

he was the man to beat to becaome the WBA #1 contender. outside of being part of Kings stable you could not get a shot at a belt any other way.

buster douglas blimped out against holyfeild but its seen as a great win. Buster was the man to beat so holyfeild gets the credit. same with coetzee if you wanted a shot at the WBA title.

 

I found were i read it. 'Mama's Boy' by Gavin Evans.

Quite funny!

'Despite his vulnerabilities, Frank presented a picture of a gentle and lovable goof having a fantastic time. For instance, in 1986, a few wins after the Smith defeat, Bruno took on the out-of-shape former WBA heavyweight champion Gerrie Coetzee and bowled him over in one round, leaving Gerrie dramatically splayed on the canvas, his head halfway out the ropes. 'He'd have to be a baboon to stand up to that right,' he said and then jogged over and kissed Coetzee.
Carpenter said, 'They love you, Frank,' and Bruno replied, 'I'm not that way inclined, but i 'ope they love me in a different way. There'd 'ave to be six baboons in there to beat me tonight. I'm sorry, Arry, I'm sounding a bit aggressive. I think i'll go for a run. I need to sweat a bit.'
He went to speak to Coetzee. 'I'm sorry to have disgraced you infront of your wife and children, but that's cricket, old sport.' Actually, not quite cricket, it emerged.
Coetzee later confided in his heavyweight protege Frans Botha, among others, that he threw the fight. 'He was very proud of it,' said Botha. He told me he hurt his hand so he decided to take a dive. He got a brother to bet on him losing in the first round - a huge amount, he said - and he told me he was laughing in the changing room afterwards. He thought it was a big joke.'



Might just be hurt South African pride, or the fact it's in a book about Lewis, but i thought it was worth putting up.

Anyway Coetzee wasn't anywhere near his best that night.

 

thanks for posting this. I have never been a fan of evans and here is more agenda driven garbage from him. If you watch the fight it is no dive. I dont doubt botha believed what he said but I do doubt botha ever saw coetzee knocked out and bleeding for real against Frank bruno otherwise he could not have said it. That fight was legit and coetzee had a genuine concusion. I remember his post fight interview, gerrie was in utter shock. He had never been hit so hard.

Old foreman KOd terry andison and got his world title shot out of it. a few years later he lost to tommy morrison and got another world title shot again..

 

Yeah Evans says a lot of out of turn things during this book if i remember correctly.
It was definitely a legit KO and Coetzee did have his ranking with the WBA, but Gerrie was a joke that night.
Frank done what he was paid to do.

 

-Doesn't matter, Cooney showed up in decent shape and looking for a fight. More than what I can say for Coetzee. Considering the shape he showed up it in, the Dokes win you keep blowing up might as well have been 9 years ago.

-" For a start, it must be said that Coetzee, once an aggressive fighter with a potent right hand, looked like a fat man on vacation when he went to London to meet Bruno. "-Sports Illustrated.

 

Sure he did. Bert Cooper, the King of Gate Keepers. I don't care what size he is, he brought more to the table than Page, Bugner, and Bey at this stage of their careers.

It doesn't matter how you twist and turn it...the only difference between old Foreman and Frank Bruno's resumes is one guy knocked out Moorer to win the title. That's it. Other than that, they both padded their records with old names, gate keepers, and hand picked opponents.

Looking at the match from the stylistic perspective, Foreman has to be a slight favorite. His power is always a threat and he's going to stay around for 12 rounds which means trouble for Bruno.