SA HWs: Sanders, Coetzee, Coetzer, Botha and others

Sanders was probably the most talented

Coetzee accomplished the most

 

Coetzee sits at the top, then Sanders.

 

Coetzee

Sanders

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The others

 

I think sanders and Coetzee are close enough to be interchangeable for the number one spot.. Coetzee had just a tad more depth along with not having an embarrassing loss to a guy like Nate Tubbs.. But sanders win over Klitschko was arguably better than any win Coetzee had along with having the overall better record in terms of wins and losses.. Either way. They're close.. Frans Botha probably comes in at #3 followed by the rest.. Really good group of fighters though.. Imagine if we had Sanders, Coetzee, Botha and the Knoetzee brothers all in their primes competing in the same era..

 

There would need to be mustache regulations in place.

 

I think Sanders edges Coetzee because he beat Wlad, basically.

 

It was mandatory for SA heavyweights to have a moustache. No, really, go look it up. A guy with a little vernier used to come out and measure, and if it wasn't at least a certain size the bout would not be sanctioned.

 

I'll go with my man Sanders. He seemed at his peak the most fluid and fastest of the lot, and he has "that" win over Klitschko.

Then it's Coetzee and a toss up between Botha and Du Plooy for third. Du Plooy was actually quite a useful brawler, he had some decent names on his resume as wins. He KO'd Tillis, Bey and Weaver, for instance.

Kallie Knoetze was a crude brawler type with basically one trick in his ****nal, a monstrous overhand right. He would plod forward and throw it over and over until it landed ... goodnight, sweetheart. He was actually rated above Coetzee iirc at one stage.

I feel a bit bad for Pierre Coetzer in these rankings. Dude had an attractive style, he was always in tip top shape and was pretty tough. Alas his punch was simply not hard enough to dent some of the monsters he was pitched against like Foreman and Bowe, and his idea of slipping a punch was to take it on the chin and blink at the opponent. Not such a great strategy ...

 

Oh and Schutte was always fun. I think his brawl with Coetzee is on Youtube. Gerrie broke his hands on Schutte in that one.

 

You mean Coetzer yes :hey

I know it gets confusing with Coetzee, Coetzer and throw bloody Knoetze in the mix as well and you have a recipe for confusion

I agree with you on Pierre as well. He had a huge heart, was brave, loved to mix it up but he was outweighed by 30-40 pounds by huge men like Bruno, Bowe and Foreman and was simply outgunned. I recently rewatched (which we sort of discussed on another thread) his fight with Big George and whilst he was never in danger of winning he put up a good fight and did land plenty of leather on George but really it was like throwing pebbles at a glacier. George just kept chugging forward and ramming his jab into Coetzer's face time and again and as stated Pierre wasn't exactly Pernell Whitaker defensively.

 

Absolutely !!

 

Sanders was the best of the bunch. He combined blazing speed with power and quick feet. A tall southpaw, Sanders was highly avoided and stuck with a 3rd rate promoter. If Sanders had an American promoter or trainer, he could have secured a fight with Tyson, Lewis, or Bowe. Instead, the three used Sanders name in the press to hype him a possible opponent, but never selected him. Too much risk, too little reward. Sort of like Luis Ortiz is being avoided today.

I'd rank them:

1 ) Sanders

2 ) Coetzee

3 ) Du Plooy ( Wins over Weaver, Tills and Bey ) a little small and chinny.

4 ) Botha. Had a heck of a career thanks to promoter ties. Fought 6 lineal champions, went 0-5-1.

5 ) Coetzer


6 ) Kallie Knoetze.

7 ) Courage Tshabalala. A puncher with limited skills, chin and stamina. Was highly hyped for a brief period of time. Boy was he exposed.

 

Mendoza about right on these^

The HW scene in SA seems to have died.

We need some more big bruisers out of Boksburg LOL. But the people around here have shrunk, it seems.