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Gerrie Coetzee was a 6′ 3″ inch heavyweight boxer from south Africa who had won over 180 bouts as an amateur. He had turned pro in September of 1974, and campaigned successfully in the ranks for over 4 years. He came to prominence on June 24, 1979 when he took on ex-champion Leon Spinks in […]

‘Big’ John Tate made the first title defense of his WBA heavyweight belt on March 30, 1980 in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. It was part of a 5 fight mega card broadcast live on ABC tv. I was glued to my tv as a rare late March blanket of snow covered south Jersey. Mike

‘Big’ John Tate won a bronze medal in the heavyweight division in Montreal in 1976, and had early success as a professional as well. The 6′ 4″ boxer fighting out of Knoxville, Tennessee earned a shot at the WBA heavyweight title in October of 1979 against south African Gerrie Coetzee. John boxed well enroute to

Mike Weaver was a 6 foot 1 inch heavyweight boxer from Gatesville, Texas who had a mediocre record in the late 70’s by the time he fought champ Larry Holmes in June of 1979. Weaver gave Holmes all he could handle before being stopped in the 12th round. The spirited effort showed that he had

Mike Rossman was a local light heavyweight fighter from Turnersville, New Jersey who had been climbing the ranks. He fought Victor Galindez on the undercard of Ali-Spinks 2 on September 15,1978 in New Orleans. Coming in as a underdog, Mike battled Galindez, and stopped him with a 13th round TKO, capturing the WBA version of

Aaron Pryor was a spirited junior welterweight from Cincinnati, Ohio who had failed to make the 1976 USA Olympic team that went to Montreal. He had turned pro in November of 1976, and built up an impressive number of victories. Aaron was very familiar to both Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns, who knew of

Marvin Hagler was a tough middleweight from Brockton, Massachusetts who had been boxing since 1973, and racked up over 40 victories and yet never fought for the title.  In November of 1979 on the undercard of the Leonard-Benitez fight in Las Vegas, he finally got his chance. I remember watching his bout with Vito Antuofermo,

After his split decision win over Tex Cobb, Ken Norton was signed to take on the up and coming prospect Gerry Cooney. The bout was set for May 11 in Madison Square Garden in New York City, and would be broadcast on HBO TV. Since we didn’t have cable tv and I wanted to see

After losing his WBC championship to Larry Holmes in June of 1978, Ken Norton took 5 months off, and had a comeback TKO win over Randy Stephens. 4 months later he suffered a devasting knockout at the hands of slugger Earnie Shavers. That was followed with a draw against trial horse Scott LeDoux. Norton was

Heavyweight boxing in 1980 had only had one heavyweight champion in it’s long and illustrious history. That is why when a white heavyweight with talent comes along, he gains attention. That person was Gerry Cooney in the spring of 1980. The 6 foot 6 inch good looking southpaw from New York had been knocking out