Yeah and to be honest Bowe did not look any better against Coetzer than foreman did. I think Foreman would have also beaten and possibly knocked Holyfield out if Holyfield had tried to recklessly brawl with him like he did against Bowe in the first fight. Foreman was somewhat one dimensional in the comeback but it was one hell of a dimension. No one could just come straight at him try to walk through him. Coetzer was a tough guy, but underweight for his height. At 230 instead of 215 at 6'4 he might have had enough pop in his punches to be more than just an opponent for the name fighters.
Oh yes, Coetzer was brave, tough guy with sturdy chin. He had some skills, too. Unfortunately, Coetzer lacked serious power, but he was very game in any of his losing efforts, he won rounds vs Bowe, Foreman and Bruno. Bruno dropped him in the last round with an illegal punches (as Bruno often did in his fights), Bowe also hit him low at the end of the fight.
Yes this was a very plausible win for George. Coetzer had a winning record. His fight with Johnny du Plooy was an absolute classic. Those tough mustachiod South Africans! For all that Pierre was matched to win 97% of the time with the 3% representing 3 fights with Bowe, Bruno and old George. Even so Pierre didn’t come to fold up. He had heart and a stubborn will to leave it all in the ring. I can’t decide if Bruno, Bowe and Old George were that far apart since they recorded similar results here against the same guy. Either George was as good as them or Bruno and Bowe were worse than we believed? or was it that poor Pierre declined that bit more with each beating until George got his hands on him?. But that takes away nothing from a solid looking win against a known quantity.
Good win for George . Coetzer is an underrted fighter. Plenty of stamina , tough as boots , good mover.. He'd be a top level guy if he was around today. Its fair to say the Bowe fought the best version of Coetzer during that trifecta. He fought those 3 fights within a 6 month period and after Foreman got through with him he never entered the ring again. You got to have balls of steel to take on those 3 power houses back to back as the smaller guy in just the space of 6 months. His handlers really should not have allowed it.
He's better than most of the recent title opponents today. He fought in a talent rich time and really did not beat anyone that good. Would he be in the top ten today? Likely. But in his time he was not.
Coetzer was a pretty decent boxer who was game, with good conditioning and a busy style. He had a hard head, and was able to take big shots. I think that he was winning against Foreman until Big George got his timing down and dropped the hammer on him. Unfortunately Coetzer had two flaws that ultimately spelled doom for him. He didn't have real power at the top echelons and his defence consisted of meeting punches chin-first. That was fine against lesser opposition and even du Plooy who, though a puncher himself, had a glass chin. But against your Bowes, Foremans and Brunos, eating punches as a strategy is just a terrible idea. Myself, I would have liked him to stop bouncing around so much and to have kept his feet planted. I feel that he lost power by not staying planted (and physique wise he certainly looked like he should be able to crack hard) and it did nothing for his defence which was a non-factor anyway. If he at least hit harder he'd have something to fire back at the big boys with.
I should actually do a punch count. Pretty sure that he was outlanding him ... well, for a while, anyway.
