Heavyweights: Gerrie Coetzee vs. Joe Bugner

[scorpio83]

15 Rounds Heavyweight Bout

Would Coetzee get the better of Bugner behind his own jabs and big right hands to take a decision or would Bugner out-box Coetzee himself behind his jabs and combinations on the outside to take a decision? What do you guys think and who do you got?

[DrDuke]

Coetzee would bomb Bugner with jabs and right hands all fight long to secure a wide dec. Bugner would be utterly defensive. Maybe Coetzee would drop Bugner or KO him at some point.

[DrDuke]

Coetzee would bomb Bugner with jabs and right hands all fight long to secure a wide dec. Bugner would be utterly defensive. Maybe Coetzee would drop Bugner or KO him at some point.

Even Ali couldn't really do that to Bugner. And Ali was much quicker and more fluid than Coetzee was.

True, Ali's blitzing combinations kept Bugner on the defensive. Bugner couldn't deal with Ali's speed and punch output, and consequently spent all his time defending and not doing much else. But I can't picture Coetzee overwhelming Bugner in the same way. Gerrie just didn't have Ali's superb athleticism. I think Bugner would be able to pick off lots of Coetzee's shots and return lots of left-jabs at the same time.

Coetzee was pretty good at long range combination punching, and he had superb speed. But I don't think Gerrie possessed those traits to a sufficient degree to overwhelm Bugner, who was pretty quick himself.

Well, also, he deserved a loss against Henry Cooper and lost all his major fights, that's why I find it easy for the likes of Coetzee.

[DrDuke]

Well, also, he deserved a loss against Henry Cooper and lost all his major fights, that's why I find it easy for the likes of Coetzee.

Lots of people actually thought Bugner deserved the nod against Cooper. The London Times had him on top and even said so in the next day's newspaper. Graham Houston also said he thought Bugner deserved the nod. I've watched the bout several times, and have come up with different scores and winners each time. The times I favored Bugner, I did so because his left jab was persistent and accurate. So I don't quite agree with the argument that Bugner "lost" the Cooper fight.

Either way, Bugner was just a fledgling heavyweight when he faced Cooper in 1971. Joe was still very young, raw, inexperienced and not yet physically filled out. This version of Bugner was not yet in his prime, which was the 1973-77 years.

Just for the record, I would pick the 1983 Coetzee to wipe out the 1971 Bugner. No argument there. But in my post above, I picked the 1973-77 Bugner to beat the 1983 Coetzee.

So the question here is when Bugner was in his prime.

Maybe. I saw it once and it was definitely close, yet Cooper's agression seemed enough that time. Don't want to rewatch it though, it was quite painful to watch.

[HomicideHenry]

Definitely a difficult fight to pick considering Bugner went the distance with quite a few tough customers. He made everybody he fought look like crap. Coetzee definitely would be trying to make a fight of it with Bugner constantly backpedaling and jabbing, and I suspect it would probably be a draw or split decision going to either man that nobody would want to ever see happen again.

[Bodyshot3]

I'd go for Coetzee but it might be tight as you like.
Joe had a proper chin, decent technique, knew how to snap-up a round and was a big lad who was rarely bullied.
Easy to forget....but he also won a heap of big fights.

But Coetzee was just a bit more dynamic, aggressive and a robust/strong guy himself. He'd probaby not get the same big bomb on he got with some of the Americans and Joe did not offer that threat.

It is a nice fight and the timing feels key. There's a sweet spot where Bugner tames Coetzee but most other scenarios suggest Coetzee landing bigger scoring shots and being able to ride out what Joe was throwing back.