TWO FIGHTS: Michael Dokes vs. "Weaver & Coetzee"

The vice-president of the WBA at the time was a South African by the name of W.H.O. Klopper. Might have had something to do with it.

 

He didn't lose it to Tate, since he never had it to begin with. If you remember, they fought for the vacant WBA title, which was won by Tate.

 

I take it your still rolling on VCR like me?? I dont watch as many fights as I used to, but all my stuff is on vhs.:? Someday Ill get around to converting to DVD, but with the amount of fights I have it will probably take years.

 

It sure seems that way (lol)..I liked those two fights..I think Coetzee had some head problems in his career and failed to tap into his long term potential for some reason..he looked so damned good in blowing away Leon Spinks and had that nice bionic right hand and an effective style in that fight and others on his way up..he had a rep for being able to take a punch, could move and box effectively in setting things up for that right. Against Weaver, I'm convinced that there was something not right in his mental makeup..maybe a confidence problem or some confusion in his approach that led to a lapse in his sense of purpose and stamina..I don't know, but I'm sure that he should have been able to defeat Weaver.
Regarding Dokes, he reverted to an intelligent, patient style one last time in his career and seemed to have his head screwed on right as he employed an almost Schmeling-type strategy in figuring out, walking down and finally dispatching Dokes with not only the famed bionic right, but with a new weapon..an effective left hook as well. He was a two handed fighter in the Dokes fight, and like I said, he reminded me of the Max Schmeling of the first Louis fight in intelligently overcoming his man en route to plastering him in the 10th round.

 

Coetzee lost to Tate more than Tate actually beating Coetzee. The South African's head wasn't right for that fight, as he should have been able to use ALL of his skills to put it together against Tate rather than just going through the motions with no thought out strategy and gameplan like he did. Gerrie fought one dimensionally against Big John, and just relied on his powerful right, and even then, with no delivery plan for the right..just aimlessly plodding along after Tate...another guy I'm convinced that he should have beaten.

 

I do. they were good fights, although I think Weaver won the Dokes 2 fight big and was ripped off. I also think the Weaver-Coetzee fight of 1980 was one of the great heavyweight fights in history. I can watch that fight again and again. Weaver had a great left hook and was a terrific body puncher. He really ruined Dokes and then Coetzee fought great in Sept., perfectly exited at the end of the HBO production to the song "Foolish Young Man" by Styx.:viking

 

Wholesale boxing: that's where I got my Weaver craeer set.

 

Dokes was always one of my favorite fighters, so was Coetzee. Shame Dokes went down a path of drugs, and Coetzee was just a rung or two below the true elite.

 

Many forget that Don King was a real mofo back in the day and he was in his prime in th 1980's when he ruled the heavyweight division like a mobster. Dokes was one of his prize pets for a while and benefitted from it ... He got the bad decision over Weaver in a rematch draw that Weaver clearly won. It was a tough fight but Weaver definately deserved it.

Doks soon after fought the limited Coetzee. IT amazes me how many here overate this fighter. He lost to Tate. He was KO'ed by Weaver. In his one big win he KO's a badly drugged out Dokes in an exciting upset. Anyone who knows the sport knows Dokes did not belong in the ring for that fight. Coetzee proved his good as champ bu them getting crushed by Page in Pages best win.

 

I did this last fall. About 90 to a 100 tapes. Most of the tapes were 6 hours tapes so I just started one in the morning and then one in the evening. Took me about 3 months. I went through a couple VCR's and got very good at cleaning them. It was a pretty cool experience reliving all this stuff I had mostly from the 80's.................................................................................Concerning the thread, Dokes-Weaver was a really good fight. I thought Weaver edged it. I'll have to check out Dokes-Coetzee, haven't seen it in ages.

 

I agree. Dokes was ready. The talk in the Cleveland gyms before the fight was that Dokes was going to destroy Coetzee. No mention of lack of training or coke.

The undercard also had upsets on it. I remember Alfredo Evangelista beating Relando Snipes and an Australian fighter named Jeff Malcolm upsetting a prospect named Bobby Joe Young.

 

Yeah I remember being surprised by that one because Tillis had gone the distance with Weaver.
Witherspoon just caught him early. This was when Witherspoon was fit and lean, before overeating got the better of him!