Gerhardus Christian Coetzee was a South African professional boxer and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion remembered for being the first African boxer to win a world heavy weight title which also made him the first white (Afrikans) boxer to win a world heavyweight title in more than 20 years. His victory was celebrated throughout South Africa despite it being fragmented at the time by the apartheid laws of racial segregation. Coetzee was born in Boksburg, East Rand, Gauteng, South Afr... moreGerhardus Christian Coetzee was a South African professional boxer and World Boxing Association heavyweight champion remembered for being the first African boxer to win a world heavy weight title which also made him the first white (Afrikans) boxer to win a world heavyweight title in more than 20 years. His victory was celebrated throughout South Africa despite it being fragmented at the time by the apartheid laws of racial segregation. Coetzee was born in Boksburg, East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa, the oldest of four children. His father was a trainer who had to bribe his son with 50c to start boxing. Over time he began to enjoy the sport and when he was 13 he won the Eastern Transvaal bantamweight tittle. In 1973 he won the senior amateur heavyweight championship. At 19 after participating in over 190 amateur fights, Coetzee turned professional. On his first match he beat 19 fight veterans and fellow South African Christian Roos. This was followed by a string of success, he fought his way to eventually become the South African boxing champion. He later suffered an injury to his hands and had surgery on both hands, his career was never the same after that.
