COETZEE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP 1980-

I did.

Gambled on it & all without ever seeing Coetzee on tape or on tv. Heard from people and what I had read, but that is a whole different kind of risk. But I had sure been watching Spinks. He sure got a lot of accolades from the Ali win. Not so many for the Ali loss though. and I sure did not like him in that Ledoux bout prior to that and thought he was a guy pretty much on par with Scott.

But Neon Leon already had a huge underground reputation as a party hard kind of guy. Very hard. And the money stories were out there as well. And after the debacle his corner had in New Orleans, who really thought his training issues would be resolved? And here he was fighting in Monte Carlo.

So I thought Spinks is doing everything but training. And he could be hit by right hands and this guy had power and supposedly real fast hands. So I played connect the dots and went all in against Spinks. Only time I ever bet on a guy I had never seen.

 

I liked Coetzee back then,, he was a guy who could have really used some top flight management and trainers. I think Holmes would have beaten him but his right hand would have threatened Larry.

 

Most likely, Gerrie has a couple of easy defenses, beats Cooney in a thriller, then loses to the Louisville Rage early to mid 1982.