Fransesco Damiani was GOOD

I don't know if you've ever seen Du Plooy's fight with Pierre Coetzer, fist. But being from South Africa I imagine there's a good chance you've seen it or at least heard about it. The fight was up on youtube a few years ago, but I couldn't find it when I did a search today. Du Plooy lost the fight somewhere around the second or third round, but it was an action packed slug fest all the way through. Both men were down at one point in time or another, and never stopped throwing shots. If I ever find it again, I'll post it, but wow what a fight!!!

 

dam was good, but he needed to work on his balance i hate nothing more than an off balance fighter, non the less he had some good fights ive always liked this fight.

 

" At the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_at_the_1984_Summer_Olympics"]1984 Summer Olympics[/ame] in Los Angeles he again lost to Biggs in the final, despite Biggs' home crowd booing at the judges decision who believed Damiani won the contest (since he threw more punches and was moving forward for most of the contest) which led to the leading BBC Boxing commentator [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Carpenter"]Harry Carpenter[/ame], who was commentating for the [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC"]BBC[/ame] sport Olympic coverage, to say that "..it the worst boxing decision in all my years of boxing commentating"."

 

Oh yeah, it was the talk of the town back in the day.

Both fighters were being groomed for title shots down the road, and although there was always talk of a potential fight between the two at some point, they had their eyes on gaining world rankings and a title shot at some point down the line, so they had different agendas.

Still, with two heavyweights of note operating in a rather small boxing scene, it was inevitable that comparisons between the two were being drawn by the local press.

Pierre Coetzer was the blue collar guy. He was a private man, who did his talking with his fists. Never said a boastful word in his life.

Du Plooy was the more outspoken, swashbuckling type. He loved drag racing when he wasn't fighting. He was the 'colour' guy.

Their styles were also very different. Coetzer was the more orthodox, technically correct fighter, noted for his bodypunching and overall conditioning.

Du Plooy was more of a head hunter and a front runner, and much more aggressive. But his conditioning was often a problem. He was seen as the guy with the bigger punch, but weaker chin.

So you had all these contrasts between the two, and it was just a great subject for discussion among fans as to who would win.

As it turns out, Coetzer had too much for a rather faded Du Plooy. He was dropped in the first round, but came back in the second to hammer Du Plooy with left hooks, dropping him twice.
Du Plooy managed to rise after the second knockdown, but was totally out of it. Good fight. :good

 

Good fighter, but had a glass nose and that was his downfall.

 

Same thing happened to Mike Ayala against Danny Lopez.

My father has a friend who got his nose bashed up in a bad car accident when a young man. They simply removed the bone and cartilage, so his nose (which actually does look normal until he presses down on it) is strictly soft tissue. Damiani had something of a beak, not the greatest target for a competitive boxer to be sporting.

 

Many of us called him the Uncrowned King.

He would wipe out this era.