Gerrie Coetzee... underrated?

I think he is underrated.

Think about the plaudits that Gerry Cooney gets on this site, based on far less tangible acomplishments.

This is the Gerrie from that era, that should get the credit.

 

:dealThis I've always said!! Coetzee was superior to Cooney..he was a very good fighter at times..he looked just devastating vs Spinks..and he brought home the bacon..(WBA brand anyway) vs Dokes. Yes, very underrated fighter.

 

:dealThis too..

 

Gerrie Coetzee was the first African to ever win a world heavyweight championship.

I have heard that no one in the boxing community knows where he is now. Is that true?

 

I think you mean Alan Toweel. :good

 

Seen him fight tony tucker on the undercard of Eubanks v Close. Granted it was only a 3 rounder but Tucker was still roughly around the mix then

 

I believe he was last seen in Antartica, leasing his moustache to pre-pubescent walruses

 

There is actually quite an interesting interation between Holmes and Coetzee with Barry Tomkins stuck in the middle on Youtube. I think I found it watching some old footage of Victor Gaindez and Pierre Fourie, which also includes Coetzee's fight with Spinks.
It's right at the end of the video.

Gerrie was very sure he and Holmes were going to fight, and he said something like "Holmes is living a dream, and that dream is going to end."

Holmes calls Gerrie a paper champ and says he's the real champ. I can't seem to find the video at the moment, but it's a good watch.

 

He was seen as a solid champion before his loss. The media was building him up as a guy who could beat Holmes. I remember Larry and Gerrie together and Larry caused a big scene as always.

 

Gerrie Coetzee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Underrated,,,,,,,,,,,NO WAY,,,,,,

More of a disappointment than anything,,,,,

This content is protected

 

He has a Facebook page. I couldn't access it because I'm not a member of Facebook.

 

Seems like that's someone else with the same name on Facebook. He does, however, have his own website. Duh. Now that I look at it I remember seeing it before too. I got him mixed up with someone else that I read about - South African boxing get together and nobody knew what became of him - but I guess I've forgotten who.

 

I'm fairly certain Coetzee now lives in northern California. He's married to an African-American woman, I believe (based on what's written on Internet forums). If true, that would rebut the old charges that he was "racist."

 

I think Coetzee would have given Holmes a pretty good fight. Holmes would have won, but it would have been a war while it lasted.

There were only a handful of guys who were better than Coetzee during the 1980 to 1984 period.

 

I always thought Gerrie Coetzee had a '6' Part career -

Part '1' - pre-1979 (or before Leon Spinks)

From 9/74 thru 12/78 (21-0-0) (12 KO's)

That record earned him a #5 WBA Heavyweight Ranking

Gerrie had some good wins, but nothing to write home about -
12/78- (W Dec 10) - Dale 'Ibar' Arrington {22-6-1}
5/78 --(W Dec 10) - Randy Stephens {10-3-0}
12/77- (W KO 6)----Johnny Boudreaux {20-2-1}
10/77- (W TKO 4) - Tom Prater {18-6-1}
4/77 --(W Dec 12)- Mike Schutte {34-6-1}
10/76- (W Dec 10)- Kallie Knoetzee {6-1-0}

Most of his bouts were sort of a mystery, as there is little detailed information
about each bout, other than the recorded result or minimal overview.

His 'best win' in Part '1' of his career, a Unanimous 10-Round Decision over 6' 5" Dale 'Ibar' Arrington,
who was a decent 'journeyman' with a 'good punch' at 22-6-1 (19 KO's), in December 1978.

Though, it was reported that in his bout with Randy Stephens, Gerrie was the recipient of a
'hometown' Split-Decision, {Scorecards; 6-4-0 Coetzee / 5-4-1 Stephens / 7-3-0 Coetzee}.
That 'Decision' was not well received by the boxing fans in attendance at the Film Trust Arena.

The only detailed information about Gerrie, was that he was a 'white South African'
that had problems with his right hand, which had hampered his career. And that
the bones in his right hand were fused with steel pins.

An interesting fact;
'Smokin Joe' Frazier had his eyes set on a comeback versus 23 year-old Gerrie in April 1978,
when the South African was 19-0-0 (12 KO's), and the #9 WBA Heavyweight.
Apparently, 'Smokin Joe' was not overly impressed with Gerrie's 'Knock-out' win
(KO 6) over former WBA-ranked Heavyweight Johnny Boudreaux 20-2-1 in December 1977.

I wonder how Gerrie would have been viewed, had he beat up a 'worn-out' former
Champion, probably by a Decision.