Note: This is an up to date article on Gerrie Coetzee
Coetzee died of lung most cancers at his Cape Town residence on Thursday, having recently received the shock diagnosis.
When talking to Sport24, Gerrie Coetzee’s supervisor Thinus Strydom stated the most cancers was solely detected final week when the South African sports activities icon went to a physician for a verify up associated to hip substitute surgical procedure.
“Last Thursday, he went for scans, and it was discovered he had cancer. The doctor gave him a week to live,” Coetzee informed News24. “The cancer had spread to the rest of his body and a week later, he’s no longer with us. It took us by surprise, because no one knew he had cancer. The family also decided not to inform him that he had cancer and that he only had a week to live.”
Strydom stated Coetzee was battling to get better in addition to anticipated after hip substitute surgical procedure, which led to a return to the physician.
“The hip just wouldn’t heal properly and there were screws there. His big concern was whether he’d be able to walk again,” Strydom stated. “They went back for more tests, from where the cancer was discovered.”
Coetzee competed from 1974 to 1986 and once more in 1993 and 1997, and was one of essentially the most well-known South African boxers to lace up his gloves. He completed his profession with 40 fights, 33 wins, six defeats and one draw. Twenty one of his victories got here through knockout.
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The ‘Boksburg Bomber’ was a former South African world heavyweight boxing champ, and tributes have poured in from extensive and much after information emerged about his premature loss of life.
You can see some of the twitter response to the loss of life of Gerrie Coetzee under:
Coetzee was the primary boxer from Africa to combat for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having held the WBA title from 1983 to 1984.
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Gerrie Coetzee held notable knockout wins in opposition to WBA world heavyweight champion Michael Dokes and former unified world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, in addition to a draw with then future WBC world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas.
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