Would be an interesting one, always liked Sanders' fights. Clash of styles. IMO Sanders is the bigger puncher and has the better chin, but awful stamina. Coetzee is the better all round boxer, I always thought his chin was over rated. Like a few said if Coetzee can weather the storm early on he'll eventually close out the fight. Coetzee wins by stoppage in the 9th.
Sanders. early Coetzee liked to fight on the outside which is the wrong place to be against Sanders. the other Coetzee bad habit against this guy is that constant tapping of his gloves while thinking about what to do. He'd pause for like 3 seconds and just stand still tapping those gloves. he'll get tagged by a straight shot or a right hook from this guy.
Sanders would be dangerous for anybody. He was a tall, fast, southpaw with a big punch. He didn't always win but he was capable of winning against anybody. Sanders vs. Wilder might be explosive.
I just randomly thought of this matchup while down in what was originally my man cave but has more these days become a playroom for my grandsons. The walls are still plastered with framed boxing magazine covers. I easily have 50 down there, in addition to the old beer distributor fight posters, and a full collection of the super large, super fight posters that used to come out on their own. Anyway, I passed a cover when Coetzee flattened Dokes to win the title, a KO magazine. Then I ended up wandering across one showing Sanders standing over Wlad hence the seeds were planted in my brain for this matchup. My initial thought was Sanders early, but it seems like the majority of the people in this thread pick Coetzee. Happy Sunday all.
A lot of people in this thread don't know that Sanders was comfortable doing 12 rounds in the late 90s.
I'll go with Coetzee I think his right hand would find a home like Nate Tubbs, Hasim Rahman, did with their right hands.
Sanders and probably early. Coetzee liked to work out the opponent's style and time the other guy. Sanders was not only faster and more accurate than Coetzee, but started much faster too. A guy that could crack as hard as Coetzee always has a chance, but if I had to put money down on one of them it would be Sanders.
Sanders was comfortable going twelve rounds only when they were spread out over the course of a year. In 1997, he was able to condense a typical year's work for the first and last time in his 46 fight career against fellow one-hit wonder, Ross Purrity. Purrity did not press the pace at all in their encounter, so much so that Sanders' own countrymen burst into ironic applause when the foreigner even hinted at any form of activity.
I haven't watched his match with Gonzales. But I can tell you Purrity did more punching in a few of the rounds in the other two compared to the entire affair with Sanders. True to form, Sanders tired after the third and walked around the ring, throwing the occasional flurry. Purrity followed him around with his arms up the whole night. It was disgraceful. This content is protected I'll share the link since you're so concerned some people may not have watched the thing.