LETTER: Coetzee vs Spinks – A fight that launched Coetzee onto heavyweight boxing
Coetzee dropped the American three times in the first round to win by TKO.
Following the passing of former boxer Gerrie Coetzee on January 12, former Boksburg Advertiser and Benoni City Times sports reporter Roy Watson recalled the Boksburg Bomber’s fight against Leon Spinks in Monte Carlo in June 1979.
Coetzee defeated the American by TKO after hitting him on the temple with a right that knocked him down. The ‘Bionic Hand’ would drop Spinks two more times to win by a first round technical knockout.
Watson writes:
“The fight with Leon Spinks in Monte Carlo launched him in no uncertain terms onto the world heavyweight boxing scene as top contender for the crown.
“This was the night, in late June and freezing, that we all stayed up in scarves and gowns, huddled around our TV sets with coffee mugs in hand for the start of the fight just after midnight our time.
“It was all over, as reported, in two minutes and three seconds of the first round – a night, I am sure, many of our more senior Boksburgers will remember.”
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