Did you know that the former Mmabatho Sun, currently called Mmabatho Palms once played host to one of the late Gerrie Coetzee’s boxing matches in his attempt to annex the WBA heavyweight title.
That was in 1979 against the gigantic American boxer popularly known as John “Big John”Tate. Coetzee’s next opponent was to be Mike Weaver in 1980 in a fi¬ght that was also held in this province at The Super Bowl at Sun City in Rustenburg. It was only in his third attempt that he won the WBA heavyweight championship when he defeated Michael Dokes at Ohio in 1983.
Coetzee did not last for that long as a world champion because he lost his belt to another American called Greg Page in 1986. He only spent three years as a champion but it is well documented in the history books that he is the ¬first African to have won the global heavy weight championship and we are proud to say that the North West province played a role in him winning the title, Rest in peace the “Boksburg Bomber”.
