Willie de Wit
Name: Willie de Wit
Hometown: Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 189cm
Reach: 196cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record
Willie de Wit had an excellent amateur career that peaked in the 1984 Olympic Games. De Wit and teammate Shawn O'Sullivan were heavily-touted going into the Games, as both had won the World Championship Challenge in 1983. They were the men to beat in their divisions.
They both brought home Silver Medals, and fought very impressively. De Wit then turned pro and on his way up faced four undefeated fighters. He also won the Canadian Heavyweight Title and was favorably compared to George Chuvalo.
De Wit lost his only fight to the vicious-hitting Bert Cooper in the second round in 1987. Cooper was a knock-out puncher who could take out anyone if he hit them flush (he came close to winning the title against Evander Holyfield). De Wit was hit flush early and was dropped four times in only two rounds. De Wit continued defending his Canadian title. He beat Henry Tillman, the man who had defeated him for the Gold Medal in the 1984 Olympics, by decision in his last fight in 1988.
Although De Wit had lost only once, was still the Canadian champion, and appeared to have rebounded from his loss to Cooper, he chose to retire and go to law school. De Wit now (2005) lives comfortably as a lawyer.
Olympic games results
1984 (as a heavyweight)
- 1st round bye
- Defeated Mohamed Bouchiche (Algeria) 5-0
- Defeated Dodovic Owiny (Kenya) KO 1
- Defeated Arnold Vanderlyde (Netherlands) 3-2
- Lost to Henry Tillman (United States) 0-5, gold medal match