He defied some of his country's racist laws and won popularity with Nelson Mandela and black fans. 9WWOS
Coetzee, who was white, was the first African boxer to win a world heavyweight title. He knocked out American rival Michael Dokes in the 10th round in Richfield, Ohio, in 1983 to win the WBA belt, a big upset that was celebrated throughout South Africa despite it being fragmented at the time by the apartheid laws of racial segregation.
The government said millions of Black South Africans rooted for Coetzee during his career, “thereby confounding the false logic of apartheid.” At a later meeting with Mandela, Coetzee wanted to give the Nobel Peace Prize winner a gift in return and chose a medal that he had previously been awarded by the apartheid government. Mandela didn't even flinch when he learned where the medal came from, Coetzee said, and graciously accepted the gift.
South African heavyweight boxing legend Gerrie Coetzee during a press conference on January 26, 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. It is reported that Dricus du Plessis will play the role of the heavyweight boxer Gerrie Coetzee in the upcoming biographical film Against All Odds. Coetzee was the first boxer in the history of world boxing to win the heavyweight title for the African continent.
Coetzee had persistent injury problems with that potent right hand and it was operated on numerous times throughout his career, leading South African heavyweight rival Kallie Knoetze to give Coetzee the nickname “Sore Little Hands." Coetzee was also sometimes called “The Bionic Hand."
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