South African Ex-Heavyweight Champion Dies At 67

Afimag.com –

South Africa Republic has been thrown into mourning following the death of the former world heavyweight champion, Gerrie Coetzee on January 12, 2023.

Coetzee who clashed with Frank Bruno
was the first boxer from Africa to combat and win, a world heavyweight championship, died after a brief illness.

Recall that the deceased held the heavyweight title from 1983 to 1984. Confirming his death, his manager, Thinus Strydom said Coetzee died of lung cancer at his Cape Town home.

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According to Strydom, the former heavyweight champion had been given a prognosis by doctors around a week ago, upon consultation.

In his tribute, South African Super Sport Senior Communications Manager, Clinton Berg, lamented that a giant has fallen, noting that Boksburg Bomber has
Succumbed to illness.

“A giant has fallen. The Boksburg Bomber has succumbed to illness. Almost exactly 40 years after his great triumph – winning the WBA heavyweight championship by 10th-round KO against Mike Dokes – Gerrie Coetzee has died aged 67. One of my boyhood heroes. RIP,” he wrote on his Twitter page.