Coetzee’s stance against apartheid laws made it difficult to get sponsors

Late former WBA heavyweight world boxing champion Gerrie Coetzee will be buried tomorrow in Cape Town.

The legendary boxer’s long-time friend and promoter Thinus Strydom confirmed this yesterday. Coetzee, 67, is survived by his wife and two children. Coetzee died last Thursday from cancer.

The one thing that makes Coetzee stand out is that he publicly denounced apartheid laws. He was often harassed by the authorities for that.

When fighting overseas, he had to contend with anti-apartheid protests, effectively getting it from both sides of the divide. Coetzee’s stance against apartheid made it difficult for him to get sponsors.

Strydom says Coetzee’s fight against WBA champ American Michael Dokes in 1983 was almost called off due to sponsors refusing to bankroll it. “I connected the organisers with Defy [then SA’s largest manufacturers and distributors of major domestic appliances] which bankrolled it,” he said.

Coetzee won the fight by knockout in the 10th round in the US. Sadly, Coetzee still found himself being hated by his fellow black South Africans who celebrated when a black American boxer beat a white South African.

Coetzee felt that when he lost in his first attempt to win the WBA title after he lost to American “Big” John Tate over 15 rounds in front of 80,000 fans at Independence Stadium in Bophuthatswana on October 20 1979.

Tate actually became an instant hit with black people in his first fight in SA on June 2 1979, when he pummelled Kallie Knoetze into submission in eight rounds at the same venue where he later defeated Coetzee.

Knoetze was hated by black people for being allegedly involved in the shooting of schoolchildren during the 1976 Soweto uprisings. He was a policeman.

When Tate came over here there was a popular song by an American group – the Gap Band – which was interpreted by black people as “Bashaye John Tate bathatha amachance – Beat the up John Tate, they are taking chances”.

Coetzee from Boksburg was trained by his father Flip Coetzee and Willie Locke who are both late.

Veteran boxing administrator Peter Ngatane says: “That’s the reality and the truth we lived at that time. But if you remove apartheid and race, Gerrie was one of the best boxer that South Africa produced.”