The New “Other Heavyweight Champion of the World”: John Tate Vs Gerrie Coetzee
The title, “Heavyweight Champion of the World” had always been an easy enough title to track. It wasn’t like keeping up with the baseball champions or football champions or the champions of any other sport, which was usually decided once a year. While the avid fans of those sports can do it, it takes some major dedication and research, the older the sport is. Boxing doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t have a season where the top fighters that year fight each other until they get down to the best one, though that’s not a bad idea, either. No, to be “champion”, all you have to do is beat “The Champion”; easy enough, or so one would think.
The only times in the modern history of the sport when the championship was in question was when a champion decided to retire from the sport. The first to do this was 19-0-2 James J. Jeffries, when he retired in 1905, rather than defend against the best fighter in the world, who happened to be Black, Jack Johnson, the then-“Colored Heavyweight Champion”.
Jeffries hand-picked the two men to fight for his vacated title, as was the tradition, Light Heavyweight Champion, Jack Root and a man who had last defeated Johnson, Marvin Hart. Hart won; but wasn’t really widely accepted. He was then defeated by a Canadian, Noah Brusso, better known professionally as Tommy Burn, who went about defeating all of the other “national champions” to solidify his claim as “World Champion”, until he faced Johnson. Johnson embarrassed him over the course of 14 Rounds before the police stepped in to halt the proceedings on December 26th, 1908. Two years later, Jeffries came out of retirement and was also dominated in the first and only loss of his career, forcing everyone to accept Johnson as the World Heavyweight Champion, though Johnson was champion the moment he beat Burns in Australia.
The second time a fighter retired on top was when Gene Tunney hung his gloves up in July of 1928, after stopping Tom Heeney, to retire with a record of 63-1-1 (officially), never to fight again. By that time, the fledgling National Boxing Association (NBA) had come into being and, in America, promoter Tex Rickard put together an elimination tournament before he died, to determine “the champion”, which was won by Jack Sharkey, when he defeated World Light Heavyweight Champion, Tommy Loughran in the finals. However the NBA was the “national boxing association”, which made Sharkey the American Champion. To be recognized as “World Heavyweight Champion”, Sharkey had to defeat the best in Europe, German Heavyweight Champion, Max Schmeling. The NBA and the most influential athletic commission in the U.S., the New York State Athletic Commission, agreed to recognize the winner of Sharkey and Schmeling as the new “World Champion”.
Schmeling won on a foul at the end of the 4th round and was declared the new “Heavyweight Champion of the World” in June of 1930, nearly two years after Tunney’s retirement.
The third time it happened was when Joe Louis decided it was time for him to walk away after his rematch with Jersey Joe Walcott in June of 1948. This is where it gets a little murky for a bit. When Walcott faced Ezzard Charles for the vacant championship in June of 1949, one year after Louis’ last fight and retirement, only the N.B.A. (the first incarnation of the W.B.A.) recognized him as “World Champion”. The BBB of C, that’s the British Boxing Board of Control, had now entered the fray and wanted one of their own to be Louis’ successor, 35-2 Bruce Woodcock. Woodcock had won the British Commonwealth title in March of 1949 with a 3rd round knockout and solidified the Commonwealth, the BBB of C British Heavyweight Title, and the EBU (European) Heavyweight Championship with an exciting 14th round win over the great Freddie Mills in June of ’49, the same month Charles defeated Walcott.
In their mind, Woodcock had just as much claim to the championship as Charles, so, they matched him with an American veteran he had previously defeated on a disqualification, Lee Savold, for the “vacant world heavyweight championship” in June of 1950, probably thinking he would win. Sadly for the BBB of C and for Woodcock, he suffered a bad cut over his eye in the third and Savold got the win in round 4 when he was forced to retire. Lee Savold was now recognized as the World Heavyweight Champion by the British Boxing Board of Control.
The situation didn’t clarify itself until two fights happened. First, Joe Louis came back to challenge Ezzard Charles in September of 1950, a fight which Charles won by decision; and then Louis fought Savold in June of 1951 and stopped him in a butchering in 6 rounds. After that fight, the BBB of C, the NBA, and the NYSAC (New York State Athletic Commission) all cast their lots behind Charles. Unfortunately for Charles, one month later he fought Jersey Joe Walcott for the third time and got caught with a monstrous sneak left hook-uppercut which took his newly “undisputed” championship away from him.
Every boxing fan is familiar with the next retirement, for it was the famous 49-0 retirement of Rocky Marciano, who never fought again, leaving him to only World Heavyweight Champion to retire and stay retired without a blemish on his record after his last defense against Light-Heavyweight Champion Archie Moore in September of 1955. Who else but “Ancient Archie” should vie for the right to be the new champion? He squared off against 1952 Middleweight Olympic Gold Medalist, Floyd Patterson, and was stopped in 5 Rounds.
Which brings us to September 6th, 1979, the next time a World Heavyweight Champion retired on the throne. Muhammad Ali had announced his “retirement” on multiple occasions over the last three years; but on September 6th of ’79, the WBA recognized it and declared his crown vacant with the new holder of that crown to be determined on October 20th in Pretoria, South Africa between John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee, the two finalists in their tournament.
Tate and Coetzee were both two young, undefeated heavyweights with impressive credentials; but would the winner truly be “The World Heavyweight Champion?”
This is where politics enters the picture……again.
First, let’s go back in time to 1964. By the time young Cassius Clay challenged Sonny Liston in February of that year, the old NBA (recently rechristened the “World Boxing Association”) and the NYSAC were still the main sanctioning bodies in the sport, with the WBC still learning to walk, being only two years old. One year after Clay defeated Liston for the Championship, the WBA became the first organization to strip a champion of “the title” (not counting the BBB of C’s “un-recognizing” of Lee Savold as “World Champion” in 1951). The official reason for stripping Ali of the title was because he’d signed to fight a rematch with Liston, rather than facing their # 1 Contender, Ernie Terrell, who surely did deserve a shot, first. In February of 1965, Terrell faced and defeated Eddie Machen in a sloppy, dull affair for the vacant WBA “World” Heavyweight Championship.
The WBA was recognized in 48 states at the time. Did their decision mean that Ernie Terrell was the true “Heavyweight Champion of the World?” Ali, of course, put the matter to rest two years later when he humiliated Terrell over the course of 15 rounds, leaving no doubt as to who the champion was; but less than two months later, he was stripped again, this time for refusing to take the step forward into the Armed Forces. The only organization which continued to recognize Ali as World Heavyweight Champion was the World Boxing Council; and they did right up until the day he announced his retirement on February 1st, 1970.
Ali had been forced into inactivity for three and a half years. Joe Frazier had won recognition as “World Champion” by the NYSAC in 1968, when he stopped undefeated Buster Mathis and Jimmy Ellis had won the WBA tournament for their recognition as “World Champion” the same year. When they fought on February 16th, 1970, Joe Frazier won the WBA and the WBC belts to go along with his NYSAC recognition as champion; but, for many, it was only after he defeated Ali a year later that he was the true “Heavyweight Champion of the World”, though that is a bit unfair.
The New York State Athletic Commission, while very reputable at the time, still only covered a handful of states, so how could Joe be the “world” heavyweight champion? Well, in his defense, he did face and defeat several quality opponents while waiting for Ellis. The WBA covered more area to be sure; but without Frazier in the tournament (by his own choice), the competition lost much of its validity. It was only when Ellis met Frazier, with the understanding at that time that Muhammad Ali would most likely never fight again, that the question of “who is the world heavyweight champion” was answered. Ali coming out of retirement and facing Frazier merely cemented the fact that Frazier was champ.
Fast forward back to 1979 in Pretoria and the question at hand. When Ellis met Frazier, Ali had been away from the ring for three years. When Patterson faced Moore, Marciano had been officially retired for one year. When Charles faced Walcott (the first time), Louis had been officially retired for one year. When Sharkey faced Schmeling (the first time), Tunney had been officially retired for two years. When Tate faced Coetzee, while Ali had been inactive for over a year, as Champion, he’d been officially retired for 34 days.
Also, just as the WBA’s tournament in 1967-68 lost much of its merit with the absence of Joe Frazier, their tournament in 1979 seemed to be missing something without another young undefeated heavyweight, Larry Holmes, or even a Ken Norton or an Earnie Shavers; but how could they have been included? Bob Arum was promoting the WBA tournament while Don King had promotional rights to the WBC Champion, Larry Holmes. While Larry faced and defeated both Norton and Shavers (twice), Tate had earned his birth with a wins over Duane Bobick and Kallie Knoetzee and Coetzee had earned his shot by decisioning Ibar Arrington and stopping former World Heavyweight Champion, Leon Spinks, in Round 1. None of this is to say those fighters weren’t very good; but the weight of proof of “who was champion” certainly seemed to be leaning towards the Holmes camp.
The fight itself was far from exciting for most of the early rounds. Both Tate and Coetzee fought with much respect for their opponent, and why not? They were essentially equals in experience with Tate at 19-0 and Coetzee at 22-0. Each of them had won impressively in their last bouts and against opponents well known to them both. Coetzee saw Tate go to war with and stop one of his long-time rivals from the amateurs and a man who took him the distance as a pro, while Tate saw Coetzee destroy his Olympic Teammate, a feat which had never been accomplished as an amateur or a pro. So, to say both men were a bit timid would be a bit of an understatement.
Also, it had rained just before their bout and the ring was still slippery, even more so because it was covered in rosin. Coetzee and Tate looked as though they were boxing on eggshells and certainly weren’t giving the 88,000 in attendance much to cheer about, with the exception of the moment where they decided to trade right hands almost exclusively, midway through the bout. The fight was even for the first 7 or 8 rounds; but in the 9th, Coetzee appeared to be tiring as Tate found his grove.
From the 9th round on, it was all Tate. “The Fighting Machine,” as he was called, finally got his motor running and began mixing his punches to the body and the head, as Coetzee went on the retreat. Tate’s rights began landing more and more frequently and he appeared to have Gerrie in trouble on a couple of occasions, especially in the 14th. The last 6 rounds of the bout made up for the first 9, as Tate closed the show strongly, proving that even at 240 lbs., he had excellent stamina, not showing any signs of fatigue until the last couple of rounds.
In the end, the panel of international judges saw it unanimously for Knoxville, TN’s first “World Champion”, with Referee Carlos Berrocal scoring it 147-144, Judge Ken Morita scoring it 147-142, and Judge Carlos Matinez Cassas scoring it 148-145, all for Tate. At 20-0, 15 KO’s, “Big” John Tate was the new WBA Heavyweight Champion and one step closer to being the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
To be the man, you have to beat the man. Regardless of what the WBC said, Muhammad Ali became “The Man” again when he defeated Leon Spinks in New Orleans in September of 1978. Their stripping of Leon in April of that year meant no more than the WBA’s stripping of Ali in February of ’65, nor their coronation of Ernie Terrell as the new “champion”. No one recognized Terrell as World Heavyweight Champion except the World Boxing Association. Why? Because he hadn’t beaten Ali.
Under those circumstances, that belt was mere hardware. So it was when the WBC decided to hand their strap over to Ken Norton. This is not to say Norton didn’t deserve a shot at the title. He certainly did; but there’s a fine line when it comes to lifting a belt away from a man who’s earned it. Leon Spinks had earned the right to wear the gold when he beat Ali in February of ’78. He hadn’t had the title a month before the WBC took it away.
For John Tate, the only logical opponent to solidify the fact that he was “the new man” would be to face and defeat the WBC Heavyweight Champion, 32-0, 23 KO’s Larry Holmes. Until he did this, thanks to Holmes achievements in the ring thus far, John Tate would only be recognized as “the other champion”; and no fighter wants that moniker in front of his name. The whole purpose of being “The World Heavyweight Champion” is to be recognized as “the best”, or, to paraphrase the late John L. Sullivan, to be the man recognized as the one who can “beat any son of a bitch in the house,” emphasis on “ANY”, especially “that other guy”.
There is the Heavyweight Champion of the World; and then there’s everybody else.
Period.