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Gerrie Coetzee: The Bionic Hand


BoztheMadman
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The best South African heavyweight ever was not Corrie Sanders, in fact. It was Gerrie Coetzee. Despite the former's undeniable achievements, Coetzee fought in an arguably better and a tougher era for heavyweights, the 80's. He was both a boxer and a puncher and could do it all, pretty much, in the ring. Yet there was one problem that would continue to plague him in his ring career: hand injuries. He had altogether 23 hand surgeries and thus gained the moniker The Bionic Hand. He was also very unlucky to win a world title and then lose it under controversial circumstances. This is the story of Gerrie Coetzee-The Bionic Hand.

 

He was born in Boksburg, Gauteng province, on 8 April 1955, as Gerhardus Christian Coetzee (prounced "Hoo-tzee-ah"). Standing almost 6'4 and with a reach of 81 inches, Gerrie was a quite formidable heavyweight for that era, physically. He was very strong but also a good, disciplined boxer. He had a good amateur career where he lost only 7 out of 192 fights, 3 of them to future professional rival and countryman Kallie Knoetze. He turned pro on 14 September 1974, winning on points in a 4-rounder against Chris Roos. After winning 10 fights, he faced Jimmy Richards for the vacant South African-Transvaal (White) title and won by TKO 9. That was in April 1976 and then on 17 July he faced his first true test in form of contender Ron Stander. Stander, a tough contender who had recently come off a TKO loss to Ken Norton, was much shorter at 5'11 and proved to be no match for his younger opponent, retiring in his corner after 8 rounds of punishment. Having passed his first test, he then challenged for the full South African title against Mike Schutte, 32-5-1. The fight ended with a disqualification of Shutte in round 6. He then faced Knoetze, the puncher who would go on to knock out Duane Bobick, on 30 October of that busy 1976. It was regarded as a classic boxer vs puncher fight, even though Coetzee himself could punch but was more polished than Knoetze. Gerrie was the better man in the end and won on points after 10 rounds.

 

After defending his South African title three times, including wins against Pierre Fourie by KO 3 and Mike Schutte by PTS12, he vacated the title to set his goals higher. On 3 December 1977 he knocked out the solid contender Johnny Boudreaux in 6 rounds and then decisioned Randy Stephens, a future cruiserweight world title challenger. It was first however, when he took on former world champion Leon Spinks, on 24 June 1979 in Fontvieille in Monaco, that the world took notice of him. He dispatched the American favorite easily in 1 round, after first sending him down with a big right behind the ear, again sending him down with a right and finally knocking him out with three hard punches, the fight ending at 2 minutes and 3 seconds. It was his first pro fight outside of his native country and it couldn't have been a better way to introduce himself to the world. It also earned him a fight for the vacant WBA title, left vacant after Muhammad Ali retired. It was 20 October when he faced off against the equally big and formidable John Tate, whose nickname was "Big". The fight was staged at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, the capital of Gauteng province and naturally, there was great racial tension. The stadium was packed with 81,000 spectators, mostly white. It was the biggest crowd for a boxing event in more than 50 years. It was attended by the Prime Minister, Miss World and 1,000 policemen. Tate was the betting favorite however, despite being on foreign soil and fighting in front of a rather hostile crowd. 10-7. His purse was 400 K, a little bigger than Coetzee's of 300. The canvas was somewhat slippery due to earlier rainfall and it made Coetzee slip twice. The second time, in round 7, Tate hit him after he had slipped, but Gerrie rose and hit him with an uppercut to the jaw. He had a good going until the 11th round, when Tate started to punish him and Coetzee looked weakened. He was also cut below his left eye and bleeding by the end of the 15-round fight, which he lost on points, unanimously. The scores were not too wide but all clearly in favour of Tate.

 

And so it wasn't meant to be for Gerrie-yet. Next year he impressively demolished Mike Koranicki by KO 1 before again getting the offer to fight the new WBA champion: Mike "Hercules" Weaver. Weaver had defeated Tate in spectacular fashion, by a knockout in round 15 and was now the name on everyone's lips. Again, the American had to come to South Africa, which was a wealthy country and world's top gold producer and a major diamond producer as well. Many criticised WBA's double standards of allowing world title fights to take place there, despite the Apartheid, of which Coetzee was openly against. But again, after doing very well for most of the fight and hurting Weaver in round 8 with a right hand, the champion had a late surge and wore the challenger down, finally sending him down in round 13 with a right hand and Coetzee was unable to beat the count, despite getting up eventually. Another disappointment, both for him and the South African white establishment. He then beat the solid contender George Chaplin by UD10 and signed to fight Renaldo "Mister" Snipes, a good boxer. This time, Gerrie had to go to USA to fight in Tarrytown, New York state. He put Snipes down twice and got the best of the 10-round fight, but, to everyone's amazement, he lost by a split decision which made many viewers, and especially the crowd, protest loudly and violently. It was obviously a case of politics meddling in boxing. But Coetzee the Bionic Hand still wouldn't let that stop him from achieving his goal and continued fighting, beating Scott Le Doux by KO 8 and Stan Ward by TKO 2, before signing to fight the undefeated and highly rated Pinklon Thomas, 22 January 1983 in Atlantic City. The fight was very even and Coetzee was the better man in the first half, but Thomas rallied in the second and cut him over the left eye in round 8. In the end, one judge gave the fight to the South African by one point but the other two scored it a draw. Coetzee said after the fight: "I thought I won, but I think it was a very fair decision. I was scared I was going to lose it. I apreciate it very much. As a sportsman, I would like to give Pinklon Thomas a rematch."

 

But that didn't happen. Instead he received his third world title offer, again for the WBA belt, this time against the lightning-fast "Dynamite" Michael Dokes, 23 September 1983. Dokes at 26-0 was a 5-1 favorite and the fight took place in his home state of Ohio, but Coetzee proved that three is a charm as he upset Dokes, first sending him to one knee in round 5 with a right and then knocking him out with another right in round 10. He was firmly in control of the fight before that and all 3 judges had him ahead. With that, he became the first white heavyweight to win a world title in 24 years, since Ingemar Johansson. Few thought it would be a South African to repeat that feat. It was named the Upset of the Year by The Ring. But, that great triumph would prove to be short-lived; in his first defense against Greg Page on 1 December 1984, Coetzee hadn't fought for 14 months and lost his title to the hard-hitting Page, when he was first put down in round 7 and then knocked out in round 8. However, the clock showed something funny after the fight was stopped: it was 3 minutes and 48 seconds! The fight was even before that and the two furiously exchanged. Despite the obvious timekeeping error, the result remained unchanged. He was now an ex-world champion. It would also prove to be a turning point in Coetzee's career. After decisioning James Tillis in his next fight, on 4 March of 1986 he had a fight in London against the hot contender, the hard-punching Frank Bruno. Bruno, 6 years the younger man, started fast and put him down after only about 60 seconds with a left and a right. Coetzee got up and went back at it, but was again hit with a huge left-right combination and knocked out, at 1 minute and 50 seconds.

 

Disappointed to be knocked out in 1 round for the first and only time in his career, he retired, aged 31. He came back 7 years later and scored 3 knockouts against easy opposition before fighting Iran "The Blade" Barkley, the former world middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight champion, on 8 June 1997 at the Hollywood Paladium. He put Barkley down in round 2 but suffered a cut nose and in round 10 was stopped with a barrage of left hooks. The fight was even before that. Coetzee however appeared overweight at 253, while Barkley came in at 229 and half. It was billed as the fight for the World Boxing Board title and was Coetzee's last. He finished his career with a record of 33 wins, 21 knockouts, 6 losses and 1 draw. Gerrie Coetzee was a talented fighter who was perhaps able to achieve even more than he did, but as mentioned, his constant hand injuries stood in the way of that. He was a strong, tough, never say die fighter who possessed punching power and boxing skill. He was definitely the best white heavyweight of the 80's and one of the best of the last 50-60 years.

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