Pierre Coetzer

Pierre Coetzer
Born	(1961-12-06) 6 December 1961 (age 63) Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Nationality	South African
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	44
Wins	39
Wins by KO	27
Losses	5
Draws	0
No contests	0

Pierre Coetzer (born 6 December 1961) is a former heavyweight boxer from Pretoria, South Africa. Coetzer's most notable fights include those against Johnny du Plooy, Riddick Bowe, Frank Bruno, and George Foreman.

Professional career

Main articles: Riddick Bowe vs. Pierre Coetzer and George Foreman vs. Pierre Coetzer

Coetzer began his professional boxing career in 1983. After winning his first nine fights, he was matched up against American cruiserweight Bernard Benton. In their July 1984 ten-round bout in Durban, Benton won on points. In September 1984, he fought Benny Knoetze for the vacant South African Heavyweight Title, and knocked him out in the third round, after being dropped twice in round two.

Over the next three years, Coetzer notched a dozen victories; including wins against Larry Frazier, Eddie "Young Joe Louis" Taylor, and Alfredo Evangelista. He also won his rematch bout with Bernard Benton on 28 September 1987, when he knocked him out in the first round. He then faced Puerto Rican Ossie Ocasio, who had won the WBA Cruiserweight Championship, and who had defeated boxers such as Jimmy Young, Dwight Muhammad Qawi, and Robbie Williams. On 6 March 1988, they had their first match at the Good Hope Centre in Cape Town. Ocasio won the ten-round bout on points, which gave Coetzer his first loss since the South African Heavyweight Title. However, after defeating Tim Anderson (U.S.) and Manoel De Almeida (Brazil), Coetzer faced Ocasio in a rematch at the Standard Bank Indoor Arena, and won the ten-round bout on points.

After six more wins, Coetzer faced local heavyweight Johnny du Plooy, who had won 196 of his 200 amateur fights, and who had scored 17 knockouts in his first 20 professional fights. They met on 4 August 1990 at the Sun City Superbowl, in a bout billed "Once and For All". Du Plooy cut Coetzer with his first right punch, and had him down towards the end of the first round, but Coetzer dropped Du Plooy twice in the second round and won the fight by TKO. ^[1]

Coetzer went on to earn a number-one contender spot for Evander Holyfield's IBF world title, but was made to fight a WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator, scheduled for 12 rounds, against the number-two contender, Riddick Bowe. The bout took place on 18 July 1992 in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the fight, Bowe was ahead in scoring, although Coetzer disagreed. In the sixth round, Bowe hit Coetzer below the belt, for which the referee Mills Lane had deducted a point. In the seventh round, Bowe hit Coetzer with what appeared to be a right-handed low blow. Coetzer turned away, and anticipated that Lane would warn Bowe, however, he left his hands down, and Bowe delivered a jolting right uppercut. Bowe then followed with a left and right that drove Coetzer into the ropes, which caused Lane to step in and end the match with a TKO. "It definitely shouldn't have been stopped," said Coetzer. "It was a low blow."

Coetzer fought Frank Bruno from London, England. The referee stopped the fight in the eighth round and Bruno was awarded a TKO. His final career bout was against George Foreman; he was knocked down briefly in the fourth round, but eventually lost by TKO when he was knocked down again in the eighth.

Professional boxing record

39 Wins (27 knockouts, 12 decisions), 5 Losses (3 knockouts, 2 decisions) [2]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	39–5	George Foreman	TKO	8	1993-01-16	Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno, Nevada, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:48 of the eighth round.
Loss	39–4	Frank Bruno	TKO	8	1992-10-17	The Arena, London, England	Referee stopped the bout at 2:17 into the eighth round. [3]
Loss	39–3	Riddick Bowe	TKO	7	1992-07-18	Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:59 of the seventh round.
Win	39–2	Carlton West	TKO	1	1992-05-16	Hugo's Nightclub, Bealton, Virginia, U.S.	[4]
Win	38–2	Dan Murphy	TKO	3	1991-10-19	Williamson, WV, Williamson Field House,
Win	37–2	Jerry Halstead	PTS	10	1991-07-27	Superbowl, Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Win	36–2	José Ribalta	PTS	10	1991-05-11	Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Win	35–2	Ken Lakusta	TKO	2	1990-12-16	The Pavilion, Thornaby, England
Win	34–2	Kimmuel Odum	TKO	10	1990-12-15	Palazzo del Ghiaccio, Marino, Lazio, Italy
Win	33–2	J.B. Williamson	PTS	10	1990-11-08	Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Win	32–2	Johnny du Plooy	TKO	2	1990-08-04	Superbowl, Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Win	31–2	Philipp Brown	TKO	9	1990-06-09	Superbowl, Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Win	30–2	Everett Martin	UD	10	1990-05-05	Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.
Win	29–2	Bobby Hitz	KO	1	1989-09-09	Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S.	Hitz knocked out at 2:59 of the first round.
Win	28–2	Michael Greer	KO	6	1989-05-29	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	27–2	James Pritchard	TKO	8	1989-03-18	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	26–2	Mike White	TKO	8	1989-02-11	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	25–2	Ossie Ocasio	PTS	10	1988-11-26	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	24–2	Manoel De Almeida	TKO	4	1988-09-28	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	23–2	Tim Anderson	KO	2	1988-08-15	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Loss	22–2	Ossie Ocasio	PTS	10	1988-03-06	Good Hope Centre, Cape Town, South Africa
Win	22–1	Bernard Benton	KO	1	1987-09-28	Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	21–1	Alfredo Evangelista	PTS	10	1987-08-30	Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	20–1	Chris Jacobs	KO	2	1987-03-08	Portuguese Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	19–1	Luis Lozano	KO	1	1986-09-27	Superbowl, Sun City, Bophuthatswana
Win	18–1	Kevin P Porter	TKO	6	1986-05-14	Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	17–1	Tommy Franco Thomas	TKO	2	1986-04-02	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Win	16–1	Eddie Taylor	TKO	9	1986-02-19	Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	15–1	Larry Frazier	PTS	10	1985-09-30	Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	14–1	Dion Simpson	TKO	8	1985-09-07	Ellis Park Rugby Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	13–1	David Jaco	KO	6	1985-07-08	Portuguese Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	12–1	Rocky Sekorski	PTS	10	1985-05-13	Portuguese Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	11–1	Mark Lee	PTS	10	1985-03-25	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Win	10–1	Bennie Knoetze	KO	3	1984-09-22	Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa	South African Heavyweight Title.
Loss	9–1	Bernard Benton	PTS	10	1984-07-16	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Win	9–0	Leroy Caldwell	PTS	8	1984-05-21	Portuguese Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	8–0	Felipe Rodriguez	TKO	2	1984-03-31	Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	7–0	Billy Joe Thomas	TKO	5	1984-01-28	Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	6–0	Steve Gee	PTS	8	1983-09-03	Wembley Sports Pavilion, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	5–0	Ron Ellis	KO	4	1983-07-04	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Win	4–0	Louis Hendricks	TKO	5	1983-06-11	Wembley Sports Pavilion, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	3–0	Jerry Shezi	PTS	6	1983-04-23	Wembley Sports Pavilion, Johannesburg, South Africa
Win	2–0	Caiphus Masondo	KO	2	1983-03-14	West Ridge Park Tennis Stadium, Durban, South Africa
Win	1–0	Isaac Ndlamlenze	TKO	1	1983-02-05	Ellis Park Tennis Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

References

1. "Johnny du Plooy dies at 48 – SuperSport – Boxing". SuperSport. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
2. "Pierre Coetzer – Boxer". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
3. Purnell, Gareth (18 October 1992). "Boxing: Bruno battles closer to title chance – Sport" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
4. Rhodes, Gary (28 April 1992). "Boxing card is delayed". The Free Lance-Star.

External links

• Boxing record for Pierre Coetzer from BoxRec (registration required)
• Pierre Coetzer at sportspotter.com