Michael Dokes vs Gerrie Coetzee(1983)

[Caractacus]

You have seen either clips or the entire actual bout before,but here is a link to the entire HBO live transmission.
It's sooo 1980's to watch again.. dude.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-02F00i5A0

[Nile4000]

Dokes was long gone by this time.

[HomicideHenry]

Cant help but think, had Dokes stayed in condition and away from drugs--- history may of been radically different. I think of just how close the Holyfield fight was, until he was kayoed. Dokes in his prime, could of beaten Holyfield. And that's saying something.

[Caractacus]

Dokes later admitted that he did cocaine three days before his fight with Coetzee.
But it was after his being knocked out and loosing the WBA Heavyweight belt
that Dokes started buying and using cocaine "by the Kilos and pounds".

[Caractacus]

Hey Barry,Its pronounced 'Har-ry not Jer-ry,you schmuck.
BTW why do I get the feeling at 7:04 that if one was to unscrewed the back
of the TV set there, that I would find somethin that aint suppose to be there,
(other then tubes,wires and sh*t that make a television work of course).

[Flump]

Anyone notice Alfredo Evangelista leading Dokes to the ring? I think he was still attached to Don King at this time, he beat Snipes on the undercard for probably his best win.

[Old bones Ian]

Dokes could of been living a very good life now, but he made his own choices. In his prime he was a very good heavy who could of gone on to earn a very good payday against Holmes.

[Bodyshot3]

Anyone else think that Coetzee tends to get a shoddy run both as a fighter and a sportsman history wise? Seems to frequently get called-out as one of the worst heavyweight champs of the modern era....that seems harsh.

The guy won some big fights and sure was not dodging any showdowns either, he was as brave as hell, hit plenty hard and more often than not fighting in the other guy's backyard. Perhaps the Bruno fiasco has tended to put all the other good stuff he did on the backburner? Thought he was unlucky to just get a draw with Pinklon Thomas.

Lived out in South Africa for a year and he was still very popular and came across as a nice guy...who despite being an Afrikaner from the sort of place that was not exactly renowned for being liberal and enlightened....showed a great deal of dignity and respect for all his opponents. A bit of a gent and a warrior in my opinion.

[Nile4000]

Anyone else think that Coetzee tends to get a shoddy run both as a fighter and a sportsman history wise? Seems to frequently get called-out as one of the worst heavyweight champs of the modern era....that seems harsh.

The guy won some big fights and sure was not dodging any showdowns either, he was as brave as hell, hit plenty hard and more often than not fighting in the other guy's backyard. Perhaps the Bruno fiasco has tended to put all the other good stuff he did on the backburner? Thought he was unlucky to just get a draw with Pinklon Thomas.

Lived out in South Africa for a year and he was still very popular and came across as a nice guy...who despite being an Afrikaner from the sort of place that was not exactly renowned for being liberal and enlightened....showed a great deal of dignity and respect for all his opponents. A bit of a gent and a warrior in my opinion.

Yet he called Greg Page a jerk and he paid the price for it !

[Caractacus]

Anyone notice Alfredo Evangelista leading Dokes to the ring? I think he was still attached to Don King at this time, he beat Snipes on the undercard for probably his best win.

Quote possibly Evangalista was a sparring partner to Dokes at this time.
I read where Dokes was a sparring partner to Ossie Ocasio
when Ocasio was gettin ready to fight Larry Holmes for the title in 1979.

[sweetsci]

In the weeks ahead of this fight I assumed Dokes had more than enough to handle Coetzee. But then the morning papers published the weights. Coetzee came in lighter than he had in years and, recalling Dokes' struggle with Weaver a few months before, I changed my prediction in favor of Coetzee. It's nice to be right once in a while.

[The Great John L]

I was there for the entire card and it was not a surprise to anyone familiar with Dokes. He had a local reputation as a partier, and he ran out of steam pretty quickly in the fight, and Coetzee was not someone you wanted in front of you when you were slowing down.

I learned years later from a neighbor whose security company worked a few of Dokes parties, that Dokes had been attending parties most days leading up to the fight. He said that there was a drug usage at the party, although he did not see Dokes use any.

[dempseyfire]

This is the lone Coetzee fight I know of when Gerrie wasn't extremely knackered by the late rounds.

[Tuan_Jim]

I was there for the entire card and it was not a surprise to anyone familiar with Dokes. He had a local reputation as a partier, and he ran out of steam pretty quickly in the fight, and Coetzee was not someone you wanted in front of you when you were slowing down.

I learned years later from a neighbor whose security company worked a few of Dokes parties, that Dokes had been attending parties most days leading up to the fight. He said that there was a drug usage at the party, although he did not see Dokes use any.

What a card to attend! What do you remember of Snipes blowing his fight with Evangelista, John? I simply have never been able to picture the bout in my mind. How did Snipes 'not' win it?

Spoon had one of his best nights, blowing out Tillis who still had a lot of scares left in him. How did that look in the flesh?

[The Great John L]

Actually, it wasn't that great of a card. The guy Nelson blew away was a decent club fighter but had seen better days so that fight was a blowout. The Snipes-Evangelista was a pretty slow fight with Renaldo just not moving his hands enough, which was pretty common for him. I'm pretty sure we all thought he still won, but it was close. Evangelista wasn't really that bad a fighter. He certainly didn't show much against Holmes, but he had decent technique.

Frankly, I don't even remember the Spoon-Tillis fight. It's possible I was off getting beer. I do remember that we had a good time with a couple of the undercard fights, especially Jeff Malcolms win over Bobby Joe Young. Young was a good young Ohio fighter who had a decent turnout of supporters, but just couldn't handle Malcoms southpaw style. Somewhat slow, but a good tactical fight with good crowd involvement.

The main event was probably the best fight of the night because it had a decent ebb and flow. Well more of an ebb then a flow.

[Nile4000]

Actually, it wasn't that great of a card. The guy Nelson blew away was a decent club fighter but had seen better days so that fight was a blowout. The Snipes-Evangelista was a pretty slow fight with Renaldo just not moving his hands enough, which was pretty common for him. I'm pretty sure we all thought he still won, but it was close. Evangelista wasn't really that bad a fighter. He certainly didn't show much against Holmes, but he had decent technique.

Frankly, I don't even remember the Spoon-Tillis fight. It's possible I was off getting beer. I do remember that we had a good time with a couple of the undercard fights, especially Jeff Malcolms win over Bobby Joe Young. Young was a good young Ohio fighter who had a decent turnout of supporters, but just couldn't handle Malcoms southpaw style. Somewhat slow, but a good tactical fight with good crowd involvement.

The main event was probably the best fight of the night because it had a decent ebb and flow. Well more of an ebb then a flow.

If it wasn't for the Kevin Howard loss, Young could've ruined Donald Curry's career.

[Flump]

Actually, it wasn't that great of a card. The guy Nelson blew away was a decent club fighter but had seen better days so that fight was a blowout. The Snipes-Evangelista was a pretty slow fight with Renaldo just not moving his hands enough, which was pretty common for him. I'm pretty sure we all thought he still won, but it was close. Evangelista wasn't really that bad a fighter. He certainly didn't show much against Holmes, but he had decent technique.

Frankly, I don't even remember the Spoon-Tillis fight. It's possible I was off getting beer. I do remember that we had a good time with a couple of the undercard fights, especially Jeff Malcolms win over Bobby Joe Young. Young was a good young Ohio fighter who had a decent turnout of supporters, but just couldn't handle Malcoms southpaw style. Somewhat slow, but a good tactical fight with good crowd involvement.

The main event was probably the best fight of the night because it had a decent ebb and flow. Well more of an ebb then a flow.

If it wasn't for the Kevin Howard loss, Young could've ruined Donald Curry's career.

If I remember correctly Jorge Vaca substituted for Young against Honeyghan and became champion of the world. It's a funny old game.

[Caractacus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-02F00i5A0

and what was up with Gerrie Coetzee's hair-doo there at 8:38?
man I think that may be the worst hair cuts that ive seen on a White Man in ages.
It kind of looks like one of those alleged
"Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas" scalps
that they showed in one of those Nation Geographic Channel shows on PBS.

[Nile4000]

Actually, it wasn't that great of a card. The guy Nelson blew away was a decent club fighter but had seen better days so that fight was a blowout. The Snipes-Evangelista was a pretty slow fight with Renaldo just not moving his hands enough, which was pretty common for him. I'm pretty sure we all thought he still won, but it was close. Evangelista wasn't really that bad a fighter. He certainly didn't show much against Holmes, but he had decent technique.

Frankly, I don't even remember the Spoon-Tillis fight. It's possible I was off getting beer. I do remember that we had a good time with a couple of the undercard fights, especially Jeff Malcolms win over Bobby Joe Young. Young was a good young Ohio fighter who had a decent turnout of supporters, but just couldn't handle Malcoms southpaw style. Somewhat slow, but a good tactical fight with good crowd involvement.

The main event was probably the best fight of the night because it had a decent ebb and flow. Well more of an ebb then a flow.

If it wasn't for the Kevin Howard loss, Young could've ruined Donald Curry's career.

If I remember correctly Jorge Vaca substituted for Young against Honeyghan and became champion of the world. It's a funny old game.

It's sad, young had a tremendous punch, and probably should have been champ in the right circumstances.

[Caractacus]

Compare here for comparative reasons,
Michael Dokes listed at "6 ft. 3" (78 in. reach)
and
Gerrie Coetzee 6 ft 3.5" (79 inch reach)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-02F00i5A0[/quote]

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Anyone notice Alfredo Evangelista leading Dokes to the ring? I think he was still attached to Don King at this time, he beat Snipes on the undercard for probably his best win.

Yes and Australian Jr Welterweight southpaw Jeff [Flash] Malcolm upset the Big Punching Welterweight Bobby Joe Young on the same card
Malcolm was a stable mate of Dokes at Don Kings training camp I think it was in Orwell Ohio in the early 80's Dokes went missing for a couple a week's before this fight and was supposedly partying and using cocaine he did waste a lot of his talent and with all due respect to Coetzee he
should never have lost to him and he certainly gave Holyfield a run for his money while battling his deamon's.......

[ClivePatrickLyons]

Actually, it wasn't that great of a card. The guy Nelson blew away was a decent club fighter but had seen better days so that fight was a blowout. The Snipes-Evangelista was a pretty slow fight with Renaldo just not moving his hands enough, which was pretty common for him. I'm pretty sure we all thought he still won, but it was close. Evangelista wasn't really that bad a fighter. He certainly didn't show much against Holmes, but he had decent technique.

Frankly, I don't even remember the Spoon-Tillis fight. It's possible I was off getting beer. I do remember that we had a good time with a couple of the undercard fights, especially Jeff Malcolms win over Bobby Joe Young. Young was a good young Ohio fighter who had a decent turnout of supporters, but just couldn't handle Malcoms southpaw style. Somewhat slow, but a good tactical fight with good crowd involvement.

The main event was probably the best fight of the night because it had a decent ebb and flow. Well more of an ebb then a flow.

Mate for year's i'v always wanted to speak with some-one that has any knowledge how I could get to see Jeff Malcolm v Bobby Joe Young
or any-one that was at these fight's and witnessed Malcolm outbox Young at the time Malcolm was a World rated Jr Welter and Young was
considered one of the Hardest Punching Welterweight's in the World and he was ranked number 10 by the WBC Malcolm got a WBO World title shot
at Welterweigh[v Manning Galloway] about 7 year's later when he was past his best would love to hear more about this fight that you witnessed.

[Caractacus]

and with all due respect to Coetzee he
should never have lost to him ......

I seriously doubt it.
Gerrie Coetzee(aka The Boksburg Bomber) was big, fast and had a "Bionic" right hand
which summing it up,would all mean that he would be too much man at any time for the diminutive Mr. Dokes.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

and with all due respect to Coetzee he
should never have lost to him ......

I seriously doubt it.
Gerrie Coetzee(aka The Boksburg Bomber) was big, fast and had a "Bionic" right hand
which summing it up,would all mean that he would be too much man at any time for the diminutive Mr. Dokes.

Back in the 80's I remember some-one come up with this dribble about Gerrie Coetzee and his Bionic right hand what a myth this was it must have been his manager I think they were trying to make out he was a killer puncher with his right hand in the same league as some of boxing's really big puncher's and when you look at his record 33-6-21 ko's it tells the real story he was lucky he faced a drugged up Dokes because he would never beatin a motivated Dokes how lucky was he :?? And how is Coetzee the big stronger guy when they fought their weight was almost identical and
one is 191cm tall and the other is 192cm tall geese that's a big difference its almost unfair Dokes lasted over 10 round's that sais it all
Bionic right hand

[Caractacus]

and when you look at his record 33-6-21 ko's it tells the real story he was lucky he faced a drugged up Dokes because he would never beatin a motivated Dokes how lucky was he :?? Aig difference its almost unfair Dokes lasted over 10 round's that sais it all
Bionic right hand

What makes you think that "Being Drugged Up" didnt actually enhance Dokes fighting performance in the ring?
He probably came into the ring thinking he was a "Superman".
He was on cocaine,he didnt come into the ring after drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels in his dressing room an hour earlier.