Coetzee in his prime was a pretty decent fighter. Klitschko would take an early lead. Coetzee was smart enough not to get caught by the dangerous right hand of Klitschko's. Then in the later rounds when Klitschko would get rubberery legged. Coetzee would come in with the "Bionic" right hand and eventually catch Klitschko for the knockout.
Quite surprised at the opinions so far. To be honest, Klitschko's better than Coetzee ever was. I can't see anything other than a (Manny era) Klitschko winning this one. Then again, I thought Wlad would steamroller Sanders as well.
Wlad is better than Coetzee So was Sanders. Coetzee was not as fast, or agressive as Sanders was. Coetzee style was easier to figure out, and he wasn't hard to hit. I don't think Coetzee would defat Wlad.
I think the current Klitschko who is with Manny Steward fights intelligently with a purpose and would beat the south african. Coetzee was very inconsistent. He looked awesome against Michael Dokes in late 83' and then a year later got kayoed by an okay, but certainly not a worldbeater, in Greg Page. I think Holmes did not want any parts of Coetzee. I am sure he was glad when Coetzee got robbed against Snipes in the summer of 1981. He ended up fighting Snipes a couple of months later and almost getting bombed out of there. Holmes was suscetible to a good straight right (Coetzee's best punch). Plus, Coetzee had excellent boxing skills and was quick and athletic. Cooney was able to hit Holmes with his share of righthands but did not have too much power with it. All his power was in his lefthook. Holmes was smart enough to move away from Cooney's lefthook the whole fight. Anyway, this current version of Klitschko would outduel Coetzee and stop him inside the distance. Before it could have gone either way probably.
Wlad stops him. At the end of the day, he's got too much offense for Gerrie and I think he'd end it with a left hook in the 7th. That straight right would get nullified by Wlad being able to go over the top of the shorter man. Wlad's also got the quicker hands, and hits harder.
