Juan Martin Coggi

He was considered one of those fighters whose true quality didn't match up to his numbers, a bit like Yori Boy Campas. He came into the first fight with Randall as an overwhelming underdog despite being the champion. That fight was a war with both men hitting the canvass, but in the rematch Coggi pulled some ***** quit job (I forget the details) and was able to steal a win on a DQ or technical decision, much like Randall's rematch with Chavez. Randall duly whupped him in the rubber match, and I don't remember anything else of him after that.

 

Also remembered for very dodgy first Eder Gonzales fight.....

 

He was actually better then you think.Beat down Harold Brazier who was a very good fighter.Nickname was the whip due to how he threw his straight left.Very underrated champion.Very strong for his weight class.

 

I remember when he was a co-champion alongside Chavez, Taylor and Camacho back around 1989-1990. Remember seeing his name, ratings, and fight results in ring magazine, but don't recall ever getting around to actually see him fight. His record on paper reflects that he beat a fair number of decent men, had a good amount of title fight wins and appears to never have been stopped in what looks like a long career.. My guess is that he got lost in the shadows of the super stars of that time and never had a chance to face some of the bigger names.

 

I'll enlighten you with a brief dissertation on Mr. Coggi

Coggi was a solid fighter. He had above average punching power, a good chin and he also possessed very good stamina. He was also physically strong.

That said, arguably no fighter in recent history benefited more from boxing politics than Coggi.

In short, Coggi enjoyed the benefit of a cozy relationshop between his handlers, the Argentinian Boxing establishment and the WBA.

During his 1987-1991 prime Coggi only midly benefited from this relationship. He was a very good fighter and while his connections helped him get a shot at the WBA title, he showed he was a very capable fighter by beating Oliva, easily for the title, and defended it successfully many times against some decent fighters.

It was after he lost the title to Loreto Garza in 1991, that Coggi began to rely more on the largesse of the WBA.

Despite beating nobody of note since the Garza loss, Coggi was able to secure a shot at WBA champion Morris East. To say East was a shaky world champion at best, is an understatement, and Coggi took advantage of this opportunity to regain the title. A series of defenses against less than stellar, but WBA top ten ranked fighters (The WBA ratings were often puzzling to experts in the 1980's-1990's), Coggi was matched with the obscure Eder Gonzales. One look at the entry on BoxRec will tell you Coggi won via tko in the 7th round and was up by a couple of points on the scorecards. Oh, if only that told the whole story!!!!

Coggi/Gonzales may be the most glaring example of home fighter corruption I have ever witnessed. Sure, there are hometown decisions where the house fighter gets the benefit of the doubt, but this brought "home cooking" to a new level.

In the middle of one of the early rounds in a pretty uneventful affair, but with Coggi probably ahead, Gonzales was momentarily hurt. Coggi went in for the kill, but was, instead, floored and BADLY hurt by a single Gonzales right hand. Coggi was, basically, completely out on his feet when he arose on very shaky legs. Gonzales, now recovered from being stunned earlier in the round, went for the finish and, in normal circumstances, would have been awarded a TKO against the defenseless Coggi. However, the referee (who was later banned) stopped the action a few times, for no reason, giving Coggi time to recover. He also allowed Coggi's handlers to physically hold Coggi up while Coggi was against the ropes (no, I am not kidding). Finally the referee allowed the round to end 20 or so seconds early. Instead of losing by TKO, Coggi was saved by the referee and his handlers, and was able to recover between rounds. He went on to stop Gonzales a few rounds later.

After a few more defenses, including a rematch with Gonzales, Coggi was paired with Frankie Randall, who had just lost his WBC title in a very controversial TD to Julio Ceasar Chavez. Chavez, who was also past his peak, was at this point almost as protected by the WBC as the fading Coggi was by the WBA. Don King, who needed Chavez to milk some more $$ out of his fan base, got Randall the shot at Coggi, instead of putting on a third Randall/Chavez fight. Chavez would go on to hold the WBC title for a significant amount of time as he was well matched, and avoided fighting Randall again - I am not counting the fight they eventually had in 2004 that was basically an exhibition between two semi-retired has beens.

Randall beat Coggi pretty convincingly by clear UD, and most boxing experts thought that was probably it for Coggi at the World Championship level. How wrong we were!!

After a couple of defenses, the WBA in its infitite wisdom, forced Randall to defend against Coggi in a re-match. The first fight was completely without controversy and only Coggi's cozy relationship with the WBA could account for him getting a rematch.

After a few close rounds, during which Coggi was able to floor Randall for a flash knockdown, but looked otherwise to be losing, an accidental headbut occurred in the fifth round. In an Academy Award winning, Luis Santana v. Terry Norris like performance, Coggi collapsed to the canvas and lay there - until a stretcher arrived to carry him from the ring. The cards were collected, and Coggi was awarded with a TD. Randall had once again been screwed, once again losing a TD after his opponent seemingly quit after a head butt.

Fortunately, after the controversial way this fight ended, Randall was able to get another fight with Coggi, which he won via UD in Coggi's backyard in Argentina.

So, yes, Coggi had a 1-2 record against Randall, but it safe to say Randall had the upper hand against him.

 

Saad, regarding the first Eder Gonzalez fight, rounds 2, 3 & 4 were all shortened by the timekeeper, who was also in on this fiasco. It took that many rounds for Coggi to clear his head. It was a travesty seeing Coggi's cornerman standing on the apron right behind him with a hold of the back of his trunks holding him up while Eder pounded him until the timekeeper jumped in with the early bell. This fight is the poster-child for corruption. Not to forget that the Argentine commission and the WBA was sitting at ringside also allowing this.

 

He was a good fighter, but yes, the first Gonzalez fight is the most outrageous robbery ever. Absolutely disgusting and a disgrace to boxing.

 

Just watched the Eder Gonzalez fight back. The most appalling corruption I have ever seen, and that is saying something. How the result of that fight was not overturned I will never know. Eder Gonzalez deserves to call himself a world champion.

 

He was a tricky southpaw w/ a fast & powerful left uppercut, but was somewhat limited outside of that & definitely escaped w/ at least a couple of crooked victories vs. Randall & Gonzalez. His 1st fight w/ Randall was an epic battle in which both fighters hit the canvas, & was part of an ATG boxing card that also included Chavez-Taylor 2 & Ruelas-Leija.

 

I agree, really felt sorry for Eder. He was given a straight rematch, hopefully he got a decent purse from it, and that fight is a real thriller.

Coggi was a good fighter, he travelled to Italy and knocked out out undefeated former Olympian Gold Medallist and reigning World champion Patricio Oliva with one almighty blow.

Looked good in beating Harold Brazier (think he had him down), retired Jose Luis Ramirez, had another war with undefeated puncher Akinobu Hiranka (floored twice but put down future World champion Hiranaka).

Coggi was a decent puncher, awkward southpaw and usually never gave up. Was lucky that he was protected by the WBA, Don King and his fellow countrymen. As much as I liked him the Eder Gonzalez is a huge stain on his legacy.

 

John David Johnson was busting him up until Coggi scored the knockout. He was as slightly better than fellow country man Juan "domingo Roldan

 

As disgraceful of the Eder Gonzalez fight was, Coggi sure was a cracking fighter. Tough as nails and didn't have an ounce of quit in him (perhaps not including the theatrics in the Randall rematch).

 

Quinton, you may be thinking of John David Jackson against Jorge Castro.

 

That's the fight I was thinking of. What a comeback