More than 130 South African boxers have held world championships, however solely 4 heavyweights from our nation have captured a globally sanctioned strap.
South Africa’s 4 heavyweight world champions
1 Gerrie Coetzee (WBA Champion 23 September 1983 – 1 December 1984)
In 1983, Gerrie Coetzee turned the primary South African to win a Heavyweight title in what was his fourth title struggle.
Coetzee was not anticipated to get one over on the Don King-Promoted Michael Dokes, however he dominated the struggle earlier than scoring a tenth-round knockout.
The knockout punch might need dealt extra harm to Coetzee than to Dokes with the South African bruiser requiring surgical procedure and scuffling with the injured hand for years.
Coetzee misplaced the title in a controversial knockout defeat to Greg Page at Sun City a yr later.
2 Corrie Sanders (WBU Champion 15 November 1997 – 20 May 2000) and (WBO Champion 8 March 2003 – December 2003)
Sanders is the one South African heavyweight to succesfully defend his title on multiple event. He can be the one South African heavyweight to carry multiple world championship belt.
‘The Sniper’ gained the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 after knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in two rounds, in a large upset. He would vacate the title in a bid to say the WBC title off of Vitali Klitschko however fell quick in his bid to be a triple world champion.
In 1997 he had crushed Ross Puritty on the Carousel Casino in Hammanskraal to win the WBU title which he defended in fights towards Bobby Czyz, Jorge Valdes and Al Cole earlier than dropping the belt to Hasim Rahman in Atlantic City in 2000.
3 Mike Bernardo (WBF Champion 12 May 2000 – May 2002)
Also a famend kickboxer Bernardo made his skilled boxing debut on 28 February 1993, towards countryman Delius Musemwa, scoring a second-round knockout.
Bernardo gained the vacant WBF title towards Dan Jerling by knocking out the Czechoslovakian fighter within the sixth spherical in Szekszárd, Hungary.
In his solely defence of the title, Bernardo knocked out American Peter McNeely in simply 41 seconds. In May 2002 he was stripped of the title for failure to defend the belt.
4 Francois Botha (WBF Champion 6 February 2009 – 10 April 2010)
On 6 February 2009, Frans ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha beat Ron ‘Rocky’ Guerrero by unanimous resolution to say the vacant WBF heavyweight title on the Tlokwe Banquet Hall in Potchefstroom.
Botha had returned to boxing two years earlier with a unanimous resolution victory over Bob Mirovic.
It was the second time that Botha had gained a world title struggle however his victory in 1995 towards Germany’s Axel Schulz to win the IBF heavyweight Championship was declared a no contest retrospectively after the fighter examined constructive for nandrolone.
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