Pierre Fourie vs. Rudiger Schmidtke (2nd meeting)

Rudiger Schmidtke 177 lbs lost to Pierre Fourie 175 lbs by RTD in round 3 of 10

• Date: 1974-05-25
• Location: Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
• Referee: Stanley Christodoulou

"World-ranked South African light heavyweight Pierre Fourie was declared the winner over Rudi Schmidtke, West Germany's title contender, after the match was stopped by an accidental butt in the 3rd round of a scheduled 10 round bout. A crowd of 15,000 saw the fight fizzle out when an accidental clash of heads opened a deep cut over Schmidtke's right eye. Fourie had ducked under one of Schmidtke's booming rights and the German's head and body moving downwards over his shorter opponent collided with Fourie moving upwards. Both looked shaken and Schmidtke's face was covered in blood. The ringside doctor was consulted and the fight was stopped with Fourie's hand being raised in victory. In the 3rd round matters seemed even. Fourie shaded the 1st round, which Schmidtke matched in the 2nd round, despite a warning for his own butting and holding." -United Press International

Post fight comments

• "I'd like to fight you again. I am very sorry it ended like this." -Pierre Fourie, to Rudi Schmidtke

• "(The head-butt was accidental) But in Germany I believe he would have been disqualified." -Wolfgang Mueller, Schmidtke's manager

• "Schmidtke started butting from the start. He said he would do this when he arrived, and in the end he got hit from his own butting." -Alan Toweel, Fourie's manager