Johnny DuPlooy?

James "Broad Ass" Broad! Haven't heard that name in a long time.

 

Johnny duplooy is one of quite a few white south African HWs,Duplooy was good but lacked something on the world stage.


Its crazy ,that south Africa has produced more white HWs belt holders than the USA,crazy but true,the population stats are confusing when you look at the equation,i guess minority groups do well in boxing,no doubt!

Duplooy had a couple of wars with Mike Weaver

 

Johnny fell apart in a very important fight in Wisconsin a whole lot of years ago when leading on points he took a knee then quit against Renaldo Snipes.

Johnny boxed in a few of the fledgling WBO's first title fights.. he fought Damiani i think it was... He was a slightly soft around the middle heavyweight who came in at around 209 lbs for a couple of his important fights.. James Broad did indeed fight Johnny, an Old Broad that is, James was my friend, i used to go see him and Dokes spar in Las Vegas years back (90) they were so much fun to watch go at it.. James was deceptive , he was so talented and was pencilled in for the 1980 team that never went to Moscow..(olympics) James sadly died of Hyperthermia in Handerson bus terminus Nevada.. 2003 i think it was.. he was working part time at the El Cortez Hotel (restaurant) yet was very low on cash but never ever took handouts, although Eddie Mustapha once offered him help through thier fabulous organization.. James was so proud, he refused help but continued to live rough on the CAT bus going around Vegas at night.. I loved James.. he was a very nice man.. back to Duplooy, He ended up boxing Pierre Coetzer late in his career and looked ordinary in comparrison, better than most but really honestly a cruiserweight.. He also fought Tyrone Booze....

The most dissapoining fight for me though was the Snipes fight, he plainly quit and lay down...

 

Check this little slugfest out dude.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VigsWDWDHF0

 

Duplooy had one of the best amatuer records & was touted early as a guy to watch. He never really developed as well as a pro & became a stepping stone for other fighters.

 

he had a very bad cocaine problem.

 

Rico............ i hate to say it..

But you are correct.... he had a nasty white powder habit......

 

DuPlooy was a top notch clubfighter with a pretty good power and offensive skills. He never blossomed into a world level fighter however. Not in any way whatsoever was DuPlooy on the same level as fellow South Africans Gerrie Coetzee and Corrie Sanders. As a matter of fact, I would even rate DuPlooy below Franz Botha in ability.

Still, DuPlooy was an interesting prospect for a while.

 

I guess I'm as qualified as anyone to talk about him, as I saw 90% of his fights.

He had ability, but remained an enigma in a way. Most seasoned scribed here had him as having an abundance of natural ability, moreso than maybe anyone since Coetzee.

Du Plooy was a man of many contradictions. He could look great, or look like crap. He could come in focussed and fit, or he could fight with a spare tyre around his waist. At times, he seemed to have world-class power, but at other times his power was seemingly average.

Sylistically, he was a fast starter with quick hands who was very aggressive, piling on the pressure always looking to land the right hand. His prime was from around '87-'89, from the Bey fight to around the time he fought Damiani.

The problem Du Plooy had was that he had a somewhat leaky defense, had fitness issues (surprise, surprise) and tended to not pace himself very well.
He fought full throttle until he gassed, and although it was helluva excting to watch, it played a part in his downfall.

The Weaver fight (first one) was a microcosm of everything that was right and wrong about Du Plooy. For the first four rounds he looked great, rocking Weaver with rights and lefts on several occasions. He genuinely looked the business. But when he had Weaver hurt, instead of picking his man apart, he let loose with a furious assault that looked great, but exhausted him and left him easy pickings for the next three rounds. Weaver eventually won on a TKO when Du Plooy did not come out of his corner, supposedly because of a hand injury.

While there may be some truth to the hand injury, he had basically nothing left and was copping quite a bit of punishment from Weaver. That was Johnny. Once things started to turn, he lost interest. Same happened in the Snipes fight. He was ahead on points, but basically quit once he gassed. He was a very tempremental man, who once had a full-on argument with his trainer between rounds!

His second fight with Weaver was probably his best fight. He came into the fight in great condition and dispatched Weaver with a big right hand in the second.
The Broad fight was another good one - he sent Broad back into the ropes with a right hand, and as Broad was coming off the ropes, hit him with another right that sent him between the ropes and halfway out the ring. It was a very good performance.

The Tillis fight was very good too. Tillis actually did very well and was ahead on points going into the 10th and last round.
Early in the 10th, Du Plooy floored Tillis for a count of 8, and with only seconds left of the fight, landed 3 consecutive right hands that had Tillis out on his feet. The ref wisely stopped it.

However, he was inconsistent. Right after his best performance (Weaver 2) he fought to a draw with the smaller James Pritchard in a very unconvincing performance. He'd gain momentum with a few nice wins, but then lose it again with an average performance against a journeyman.

His fight with Damiani signalled the beginning of the end for Du Plooy. Damiani was not very highly thought of at the time by the SA media, and one wag labeled him as looking "more like a baker than a boxer."
People saw this as an excellent chance for Du Plooy to win a "world" title. (Laughble when you consider Tyson was undisputed at the time.)

In any event, Du Plooy showed up in good shape and did okay for a while. He landed some nice rights and things were probably even going into the third round. Damiani in the third landed a right followed by a long left hook that had Du Plooy out cold.
For once, there was nothing to blame his performance on. No quabbles with his trainer, no fitness issues...he simply lost to a better fighter. The media here were scathing of him, something I thought was very unfair.

Pundits who had been lifelong fans just days before suddenly turned on him in a vicious attack, calling him a "no-hoper" or other such names. I guess it was just disappointment, as Du Plooy was always exremely popular as a fighter here, and people could not handle the fact that a "baker" knocked him senseless.
Still, the backlash was very harsh and unfair, and it ended Du Plooy's love affair with the media and with many of the fans here.

His fight with Pierre Coetzer was his last big fight. For years many had debated who was the better heavyweight - the flashy, colourful Du Plooy who led with his chin but scored good knockouts, or the stoic Coetzer, who had been brought along more slowly but who was not as erratic.
Du Plooy was the playboy who loved to drag race in his spare time, whereas Coezter was seen the working class guy who did things in a less flamboyant manner.

The fight had everyone here buzzing. The so-called experts were divided as to who would win, although for the most part, Du Plooy was the fan favourite though Coetzer certainly had his own set of fans.

The fight was lost for Du Plooy before the bell rang. The two had a genuine rivalry and Coetzer I think was annoyed with all the publicity Du Plooy got, since he was actually the national champion but was less well regarded.

I looked at Du Plooy at the pre-fight instructions and he seemed nervous and tense. Coetzer looked really determined, and as they touched gloves, Du Plooy uncharacteristically said "Good luck, Pierre."
I thought from that moment on Du Plooy would lose.

The fight is on Youtube, and it was a good one with Coetzer coming off the floor to stop Du Plooy in the 2nd.
From then on it was downhill really, and when Sanders knocked him out, it was the end of the road for Du Plooy.

So how good was he? Du plooy had flair and certainly had the public and (for a while) the media believing in him. He was a very popular performer who was well matched, and put some decent names on his resume.

Ultimately, his flaws were too many for him too go all the way, but he did have natural talent that was never fully realised. His temprement was certainly part of his problem. He was useful enough for Lou Duva to take a serious look at him, until he blew his chance in the Snipes fight.

 

Always a pleasure Russell. Thanks for taking an interest in fighters from this part of the world.

Speaking of Coetzer, he was always more dangerous when his back was to the wall. Here is another slugfest he was involved in, in two parts. Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q99qjx2fZJM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIbtBMYIn8E

I'm not too clued up about Bigfoot Martin or his record. Was he regarded as tough?

Incidently, there is nobody coming through the ranks here. The heavyweight landscape is pretty bleak, with not even enough fighters to make up a top 10 list in the national rankings. Sad really.

 

Du Plooy had some talent, but lacked the discipline needed to take it to the next level.

 

Firstly (fists of Fury) Great stuff.. great summary.....

Everett Martin... Yes he was tough.. Everett was really a lazy super middleweight... he once boxed Vincent Bouleware as a super Middle, then put on 65 pounds and became a hard punching slugger at heavyweight.. A plodder in truth.. But he was the first man to Take Gary Mason the full trip when Gary was unbeaten and ready for a title chance (and in doing so gave Gary a gash above his eye that eventually became his demise in his swansong fight with Lennox Lewis..) Everett was Riddick Bowes cheif sparring partner and i watched (two days before Bowe boxed Holyfield for the 3rd time) Martin demolish Bowe in 4 in the old pavillion behind the casino , Bowe turned away and wanted the sparring to stop... Martin was also the man who eventually helped Bowe and Futch to part ways for a while , Martin was Bowes travel buddy and when Bowe was travelling to Vegas to fight Hide he promised he would lose 30 pounds while in camp.. They left Ft washington , Maryland with Bowe around 250 , and on thier travels Martin had a habit of leading Riddick astray with his diet.. They both loved fried chicken , and during the road trip they would stop at KFC many times to eat Buckets of chicken and frozen Yoghurt by the gallon.. When the Bowe Mobile rolled into the MGM RV park 10 days later Bowe was 18 pounds heavier than when they left Maryland.. The Bowe Mobile Bus, (I actually climbed into the day they arrived was littered with containers..) Futch told Bowe he would never do another fight with him again if he pulled a stunt like that again.. Bowe told Futch.. Bigfoot challenged me to eat.. Futch retorted , and yes sunshine , Herbie Hide is in shape and is challenging you to fight in 2 weeks time.. After a hard camp Bowe did ok to lose some of the weight , but never worked in his corner much again, Thell Torrence and Hedgemon Lewis worked the J L Gonzales fight singlehanded.. Everett was also the first ever man to legitimately knock down a heavyweight Michael Moorer at the Palace in Aubern Hills Mich.. After that knockdown Moorer would suffer an epidemic of flash knockdowns against (Cooper, Holyfield .. 1 and 2.. and Tua..) Everett was a jinx to many a fighter ....