Gerhardus Christian Coetzee was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986 and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African ever to fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having held the WBA title from 1983 to 1984.
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When did Gerrie Coetzee fight Leon Spinks?
His next fight, in June 1979, was against former world champion Leon Spinks, who had beaten Muhammad Ali. They met in Monte Carlo and after a stunning 123-second knockout Coetzee was back in the international spotlight.
On 20 October 1979, a crowd of more than 77 000 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria saw Coetzee go through 15 dull rounds in losing to American John Tate for the vacant WBA heavyweight belt.
Coetzee needed only 100 seconds to return to contention when, in April 1980, he knocked out Mike Koranicki of the US to set up a match with Mike Weaver for the WBA heavyweight title at Sun City on October 25.
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