Epic night in South African boxing history

On 20 October, it will be 43 years since Gerrie Coetzee from Boksburg, South Africa and John Tate of Knoxville, Tennessee met in a bout for the vacant World Boxing Association heavyweight title at the Loftus Rugby Ground in Pretoria.

It was the height of apartheid in South Africa, and a reported crowd of 81 000 people came to see the spectacle.

Amongst much controversy, Tate, a 24-year-old African American would face a white South African in a racially divided country and it was the first time that black spectators were allowed into the Loftus Versfeld ground.

This was a record crowd for a heavyweight boxing match in South Africa and also one of the biggest crowds in boxing history.

However, this was far short of the 120 557 spectators at the first Jack Dempsey vs Gene Tunney fight on 23 September 1926 and the 104 000 spectators who attended the second fight on 27 September 1927.

According to reports from an American newspaper, they asked a number of black South Africans who they would be supporting.

Some were reported as saying that Coetzee, 24, was an honest and good person but because of the country's policies, it is black vs white and they must go for Tate.

OUTSTANDING AMATEUR CAREERS

Both fighters were unbeaten at the time, with Coetzee having 22 victories and Tate 19.

Tate, who was living in East Tennessee at the time, worked as a labourer in the cotton fields of Arkansas when he was a teenager.

As an amateur, he won National Golden Gloves titles and was a member of the American Olympic team at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada. He was beaten by one of greatest amateurs of all time, Teofilo Stevenson from Cuba in the semifinal.

Coetzee was also an outstanding amateur, winning at heavyweight in the South African amateur championships and had a reported record of 92 fights with only seven losses.

On a cool and damp night, Coetzee made his first mistake by walking across the wet rugby field with no protection covering his boots. Meanwhile, Tate’s shrewd corner man Ace Miller covered his boots in plastic.

Coetzee sacrificed his speed and his jab as he talked his way through the early rounds and possibly fought the wrong fight.

Instead of being on his toes and using his jab and following up with the right, he matched Tate shuffle for shuffle and slipped quite badly at times due to a damp patch on the canvas.

Tate was allowed to dictate the pace and hurt Coetzee with hard shots to the body which slowed him down.

The American made a strong finish to take the vacant title on a 15-round unanimous points decision.

Referee Carlos Berracol of Panama scored it 147-144 for Tate and Judge Carlos Martinez–Casas, also of Panama, had it 148-145 for Tate. The Japanese judge Ken Morita handed in a card of 147-142, with all three judges in favour of Tate.

The tournament was promoted by Golden Gloves (Square Ring Promotions) in association with Bob Arum Enterprises and Southern Sun Hotels.

Tate would lose the title in his first defence against Mike Weaver on a 15th-round knockout on 31 March 1980 at the Stokley Athletic Center in Knoxville.

Rather sadly, on 9 April, 1998, Tate died of injuries sustained following a motor accident.

Coetzee would go on to win the WBA heavyweight title on his third attempt when he knocked out Michael Dokes in the 10th round at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, USA on 23 September 1983.