Weaver KO13 Coetzee (1980): who was ahead on points?

I was surprised to see on boxrec.com that Mike Weaver was well ahead on points when he stopped Gerrie Coetzee in the thirteenth round in their 1980 title tiff. I always had the impression that Coetzee might have been ahead on points at the time of the stoppage...or that it at least was dead even until then.

Does anyone here have a copy of the fight, and if so, how did you score it through twelve rounds?

I remember Coetzee was pounding Weaver during the middle rounds, and through the ninth round or so it looked like he was winning the match handily.

The scorecards at the time of stoppage read, in rounds:
7-3-2 Weaver
5-4-3 Weaver
6-4-2 Weaver

 

I believe Coetzee had the early edge & Weaver came on just a couple of rounds before the stoppage. I was sure it was a come from behind victory for Weaver.

 

So you think Coetzee should have been ahead on points when Weaver finally finished him?

Weaver was definitely coming on strong in the final rounds, but I always thought Coetzee had piled up a decent lead on the cards.

I'd like to see the fight again.

 

Remember Weaver vs. Larry Tate? That was amazing.:smoke :smoke

 

His name was John Tate...and yes, I remember vividly. One smashing left hook to Tate's head reversed everything that had happened over fourteen one-sided rounds that night.

I was convinced at the time that Tate was going to be boxing's "next big thing." I told everyone I knew that he was better than Larry Holmes...

 

I haven't seen the fight since...well, for many, many years but I always believed Coetzee to be just ahead at the time of the stoppage. I must be honest, I'm a bit surprised at the official scoring.
Round 8 could have been a 10-8 to Coetzee as he launched an all-out assault and Weaver did very little other than cover up.

I'm actually annoyed that more footage of Coetzee is not available.

 

Look at all those drawn rounds, damn...put a little extra effort in, judges.

 

I believe it was KO Magazine which published the article, "Tate's Empire Crumbles with 45 Seconds Left to Go" after the upset in Knoxville. (The columnist who wrote it might have been Steve Farhood, but it's been a long time since I read it.)

While reporting on Weaver/Tate, the reporter editorialized, "Mike Weaver winning the Heavyweight Title is like a mule winning the Kentucky Derby." BIG mistake! Shortly after that issue was released with that printed wisecrack and put-down of Hercules, history was in fact made in the real Kentucky Derby.

Friends, on impulse, I then immediately penned the following note to send to the editor of that magazine. After sleeping on it, I decided to spare the world of boxing literati one of the worst and most opportunistic puns ever submitted in the history of the genre. Until now. (Sorry, folks.):

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

This content is protected

:rofl :silly :nut :gsg :wall :desk :nutcase :beat


(If any of you can think of a worse boxing related pun, I'd "love" to see it!)

 

Now that's funny.

 

Lobotomy:

I'm sure I used to read your letters to KO Magazine...back in those days, I bought every boxing magazine on the stands and I used to read the forums on all of them.

As for Weaver, he was pretty tough...he was far better than his record on paper indicated. Maybe the boxing world (including me!) shouldn't have taken his prospects so lightly.

 

:yep:yep:yep

 

Funny enough I just bought a copy of this fight and watched it the other night. Regardless of what the judges and the referee had it, I had Coetzee comfortably ahead in the fight although Weaver did take over from rounds 10 and onwards very handily.

Coetzee's best round with a doubt was round 8 when he landed a big right hand which paralyzed Weaver, Coetzee however failed to finish him off and used up a lot of energy on that big assault. Weaver proved he had a good chin in this fight.

One of the best heavyweight fights of the 80's without a doubt.

 

Thanks for the recap. Like you, I recall thinking that Coetzee had piled up enough points through the first nine rounds that he should have been ahead on the cards after the 12th, even if only by a round or two.

I remember thinking also that Weaver definitely turned the fight around in the 10th, 11th and 12th rounds, and that he was poised to win the remainder of the fight even if it had lasted until the final bell. In the championship rounds, Weaver was simply too strong and Coetzee too fatigued.

Assuming for the sake of argument that the fight was scheduled for 12 rounds and not 15, I wonder if it would have been regarded as a robbery that Weaver would have won on the scorecards?

 

If it was a 12 rounder Coetzee would have won the fight, although Weaver came on strong in the end...Coetzee wasted a lot of energy early and Weaver had late power......It was a good fight

 

Interesting side note: In the first year end issue of KO Magazine. The Knockout of the year was Weaver. Ko 15 Tate. But for some reason KO kept printing Hearns .2 KO Cuevas as KO of the year after a couple of years of this I wrote a letter to the forum & stated if this was true I have a great missprint issue & would be very valuable! They had since corrected the mistake.