South African boxer (died 2023)

Gerrie Coetzee

Gerhardus Christian Coetzee OIB was a South African professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986, and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African in history to ever fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having held the WBA title from 1983 to 1984. He held notable knockout wins against WBA world heavyweight champion Michael Dokes and undisputed world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks, as well as a draw with future WBC world heavyweight champion Pinklon Thomas and wins over top contenders Ron Stander, Scott LeDoux and James Tillis.

Born

1955

April 8

Died

Living

Era

1950s

Country

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About

Gerrie, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1955 Born

Also on April 8

What else happened on this day, through history

217 Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
876 The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
1139 Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated by Innocent II for supporting Anacletus II as pope for seven years, even though Roger had already publicly recognized Innocent's claim to the papacy.
1143 Manuel I Komnenos succeeds his father John II Komnenos as Byzantine Emperor.

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The world in 1955

When Gerrie arrived

april 1 The EOKA rebellion against the British Empire begins in Cyprus, with the goal of unifying with Greece.
april 11 The Air India Kashmir Princess is bombed and crashes in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by the Kuomintang.
april 12 The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
april 15 McDonald's restaurant dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on April 8

Adrian Boult 1889–1983 English conductor (died 1983) Alec Stewart 1963– English cricketer August Wilhelm von Hofmann 1818–1892 German chemist and academic (died 1892) Carlos Santana 1986– Dominican baseball player Clarence Hudson White 1871–1925 American photographer and educator (died 1925) Dionysios Solomos 1798–1857 Greek poet and author (died 1857) Emma Caulfield 1973– American actress Franco Corelli 1921–2003 Italian tenor and actor (died 2003) Gennady Golovkin 1982– Kazakhstani boxer

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1955

Bill Gates 1955– American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft Steve Jobs 1955–2011 American businessman, co-founded Apple Computer and Pixar (died 2011) Alistair Burt 1955– English lawyer and politician Arif Yunusov 1955– Azerbaijani author, historian, and human rights activist. Balaji Sadasivan 1955–2010 Singaporean neurosurgeon and politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (died 2010) Bill Elliott 1955– American race car driver Dave Taylor 1955– Canadian-American ice hockey player and manager Debbie Mathers 1955–2024 Mother of Eminem (born 1955) Donald Pettit 1955– American engineer and astronaut

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Gerrie's birthday April 8 Gerrie's zodiac Aries When Gerrie arrived 1955