Greatest South African boxers

But the results aren't there

what does talent mean if it is largely unfulfilled and doesn't translate into results.

He was a huge bust.

Kod by a ring worn Snipes
Kod by Coetzer
Kod by Sanders

Sanders > Du Plooy

He was just as talented and did much more in his career.

 

Meh... details.

Now Jimmy Abbott was truly a MAN MOUNTAIN among men. There was talent written all over that guy.

 

Jack

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I've always thought that our HW's with talent had little motivation, and the ones that worked hard had physical or stylistic shortcomings that prevented them from reaching the very top.

Sanders for me is the best we ever had. He had oodles of talent and at his best was a very mobile HW with a fine jab, gas tank, power and speed. He just seemed to lose heart in the middle of his career and fell into lax training habits. I still believe that with the right breaks and trainer he'd have been mentioned alongside Tyson and Holyfield. He smacked up Botha 4 times in the amateurs (3KO) and Du Plooy as well. At the very end of his career, looking like a tubbaguts, he lit up Machimana like a Christmas tree and only packed it in when he gassed and Machimana started landing body shots. His accuracy was probably what made his power so devastating:

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Coetzee is probably #2, although one could say that #3 Botha possibly had a better career.

Coetzee suffered from self doubt and brittle hands, but he was a big lad that exuded arrogance in the ring and had a big right hand to match. He was a decent all rounder and lost his big fights by a whisker. Again, lack of conditioning. Check out his fight with Mike "the tank" Schutte, SA's answer to Tony Galento. Talk about an action packed, dirty slugfest. His hand problems started then, breaking them on the Tank's head and arms. Those two hated each other.

Check out the 1970's quality video here:

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#3 Botha we know all about. Big, tough, game; he was actually outboxing Mike Tyson before he got too cocky and ate an atomic right hand. He really did the most with what he was given and congrats to him for it.

Pierre Coetzer is probably next in line at #4. He was what a heavyweight should look like - big, muscled and superbly conditioned. And dat moustache! #1 P4P moustache in boxing! He was fun to watch because he was busy, tough as nails and active. His big flaw was woeful defence (the face! block it with the face!) and an average-to -light punch. If he'd had a bit of a jab or pepper in his shots we'd have been looking at a possible champion.

Here's a lekker fight with Du Plooy:

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#5 has to be Du Plooy. Johnnie has some good wins (Bey, Tillis, Weaver) but also lost to Sanders (blasted out in a slugfest) and Coetzer (blasted out in a slugfest). He was the typical glass cannon. He could really whack but didn't like the incoming. Against Bey, who was a tough mofo, he had all but given up. You can hear him saying in Afrikaans to his father that he was ****ed up and couldn't go on. His dad implored him to just circle and look for an opening. Sure enough, he found it and KO'd Bey. Check out his KO of James Broad. Que massacre!

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After that, probably Kallie Knoetze. Another contender for the 'stache championship, this guy based his game almost entirely around his wild overhand right, which is one of the single hardest punches I've seen a HW throw. It's been correctly described by writers as a "wrecking ball". He would plod forward hunched over, throwing it over and over, until he landed it clean. Then, goodnight. A tough brawler, he was too limited to go far but was actually ranked higher than Coetzee iirc at one point.

Here he takes on Denton Ruddock:

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There are other HW's further back like Ben Foord and co but I'm not familiar enough to break them down.

 

Mitchell was an excellent all rounder.

He started off as a brawler and they called him "the mincing machine" because of what he would do to guys. Then he killed Jacob Morake in the ring and his style became much more reserved after that. He would constantly adjust to what the other guy was doing, and usually by the end rounds he'd have figured the guy out and would turn up the gas for some fast cooking. His stamina was amazing. Truly superbly conditioned.

There's some truth to the allegation that he would fight at one pace, but that pace was pretty brisk and not a lot of guys could take his blend of defence, accuracy and business. In some fights he looks a little like Lomachenko, the way he slips the incoming.

 

Wasn't Dick Tiger from Africa as well?

Plus you could say Ibeabuchi/Hide/Peter as well if memory serves.

There was another heavy back in the day---amateur only--named Mike Bernardo. There was a lot of interest following that guy at the time. But he was like the first guy to do the kickboxing choice over boxing. He was a bonafide blue chipper at one time.

 

Ike / Hide / Peter were from West African descent. We're talking South Africa specifically. They'd certainly make the list if they were from here though.

 

No love for Courage Tshabalala?

 

Just looking at Ben Foord's record. Very interesting and fought in a tough era. Beat Tommy Loughran, Larry Gains, Jack Petersen, Eddie Phillips and Jack London. Also fought and lost to Max Baer, Max Schmeling, Tommy Farr and Walter Neusel. Tragically committed suicide due to wounds he suffered in WWII.

 

I followed him---just like I used to do---with all the amateur heavies. He had that great amateur record but > Duplooy I kind of gave up on those lofty unbelievable amateur records those guys claimed.

I thought he was a real good prospect, especially with Nick Durant. I would like to know the story behind the Durant/Duva deal to get him.

Some guys just do not adapt to the culture change and outside the ring adjustments. In addition to not improving his game much as he went up the ladder.

 

Let's not forget Courage's brother, Ginger, who was only defeated once when fighting outside his weight range against a more seasoned Frans Botha. That guy had some potential but was shot dead in a carjacking if I recall.

 

He beat Loughran? Damn. That's a good win!

 

Ginger was the guy that got shot, wasn't he?

 

Wow BCS8, I wish I could like your complication of videos and information up there twice. That's a great post. Thanks.