Remembering Gerrie Coetzee

When the news came out that former WBA Heavyweight Champion, Gerrie Coetzee had passed at only 67 years of age, on January 12th, after battling cancer, all sorts of memories flashed through my brain.

Naturally I had been well aware of who Gerrie Coetzee was several years before he arrived to take on Akron’s Michael Dokes, the WBA Heavyweight Champion, on September 23, 1983.

Having witnessed several of his fights on live television or later on tape made me well aware of his hitting prowess and history in South Africa. I had seen him clobber former champ, Leon Spinks in a single round, battle contenders and fringe contenders such as Renaldo Snipes, Scott LeDoux and Stan Ward and draw with former champion, Pinklon Thomas. I had also witnessed him fight for the title twice, only to lose to John Tate and Mike Weaver. I was also fully aware of his medical history with his broken right hand and consequential surgeries that eventually led him to be called the man with the “Bionic hand”.

In the 70s and 80s I wrote for many magazines in the US, England and New Zealand and for a number of years in the 1980s, South African Boxing World. Writing for South African Boxing World kept me in touch with their active boxing scene at the time.

As luck would have it when Gerrie Coetzee was given a third crack at the big prize, it was to be held at the Richfield Coliseum, halfway between my hometown of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. That is where my connection to Gerrie Coetzee took on a very different and rewarding twist. When the fight was announced I had been in touch with South African Boxing World Editor, Bert Blewett. Bert asked me to come on board as “Roving Reporter” well before the Coetzee-Dokes fight. I enjoyed writing features for him. So when he told me he and Associate Editor Gary Gordon were coming in for the fight, and asked me to be part of the team covering the fight, I was thrilled to join in. What I didn’t know initially was that approximately 1200 South African fight fans would also be arriving.

Most would be first stopping off in Atlantic City, New Jersey to do a little gambling and take in the shows. Starting in 1980 and for several years after I had been very much involved with a local gym called the Parma Boxing Club. We were located a few miles outside of Cleveland in the suburb of Parma. We were able to convince the Coetzee team to train at our facility for the last week or so, prior to the fight.

Our previous claim to fame was in 1981 when Roberto Duran finished up his training at the Parma Boxing Club, prior to his comeback fight against Nino Gonzalez. This is where the story of Gerrie Coetzee became different. We would no longer just be casual fans, or in my case a ringside reporter, instead we were able to watch Gerrie train each day and as it turned out, get to know him a lot more than we had ever imagined. I was asked by several members of the South African group if I could possibly line up a few activities for the entourage while they were in Northeastern Ohio.

For the most part, this was easy because many were more than content to show up at the gym each day, crowding around the ring watching Gerrie spar with his two main sparring partners, James Dixon of Chicago and Stephan Tangstad of Norway.

However my friend Don Myers set up a nice outing near their group hotel in downtown Cleveland for lunch and other activities each day. I was fortunate to have a connection at our local thoroughbred race track and thus was able to have a race named in their honor in the daily program at the track during their stay. It was announced before the race as the South African Boxing World Race and from what I heard everyone was surprised and appreciative of the acknowledgments.

Naturally Gerrie was very serious about his training and appeared in excellent shape as he worked out each day. Fortunately, he turned out to be very accommodating after the workouts and I was able to talk to him one on one. When the subject came up he made it very clear that he was not happy with South Africa’s Apartheid policy and would do anything to help make a change.

Gerrie had fought a lot of black fighters, often in front of racially mixed crowds so I didn’t doubt his honesty. Besides being able to get to know Gerrie Coetzee a lot more than expected, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his South African trainer, Willie Lock and Gerrie’s father Flip. Jackie McCoy, famed Californian trainer and manager of five world champions, was brought in to work with Gerrie.

His expertise as a cut man came into play as Gerrie was cut over the right eye in round two and it caused Jackie a bit of trouble to close at first, but really never was a factor. The cut took seven stitches after the bout. I had met Jackie in California many years before and knew he was very good and a class act.

One day my sons came to the gym and Gerrie and the sparring partners were very kind to take time and pose for photos. My youngest, Tad, who was only three years old at the time, was both startled and thrilled when Gerrie picked him up and held him high for a photo.

As the fight drew near, South African boxing promoter, Cedric Kushner took me aside and asked if I thought Gerrie could beat Dokes. I had previously told him I had watched Michael fight many times, especially in the amateur ranks when every year he seemed to be in the finals of the Golden Gloves. I simply said I felt if Gerrie used his left hand more, didn’t get right hand crazy, he could outbox Michael. I do not take any credit for that, it was just an opinion.

However I was happy to see Gerrie did use his left to set up his left hooks and right hand bombs. The fight was exciting and electric at times. When Gerrie floored Dokes at the very end of round ten, the bell couldn’t save Dokes and he was counted out.

When the fight ended the roar of more than a thousand South African fans far outweighed anything the several thousand locals could have mustered. As for Gerrie, the third time was truly the charm. Gerrie’s wife Rina and son Gerhard were ringside watching this wonderful event. I was happy that my friend Terry Gallagher, who had been given the assignment to shoot photos for South African Boxing World magazine, caught many excellent ones, including from the undercard of the show. His cover shot in the November 1983 issue of the magazine, captures the moment the final punch was about to land on Dokes.

This story would not be complete if I did not mention another amazing thing that happened following the bout. The next day, Saturday the 24th of September,1983, Gerrie and wife Rina, welcomed daughter Tana into the world. It wasn’t planned but Rina went into labor and had to be taken to a local hospital in Cleveland after the bout.

Gerrie was a fine man, a tough fighter and I enjoyed spending my brief moments with him. I was very happy for him as not only was he the first South African to win a heavyweight title, he also was the first to ever fight for one. Gerrie leaves behind his wife Rina, three children and seven grandchildren.

May he rest in peace.