BOXING champion Gerrie Coetzee has died aged 67.
The former world heavyweight champion clashed with the likes of Frank Bruno.
News Group Newspapers LtdGerrie Coetzee, pictured against Frank Bruno in 1992[/caption]
He also was the first boxer from Africa to fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, holding the title from 1983 to 1984.
He competed from 1974 to 1986 and again in 1993 and 1997.
And his knockout wins include fighting against Michael Dokes and former unified world heavyweight champion Leon Spinks.
A tribute read: “A giant has fallen. The Boksburg Bomberhas succumbed to illness.
“Almost exactly 40 years after his great triumph – winning the WBA heavyweight championship by 10th-round KO against Mike Dokes – Gerrie Coetzee has died aged 67.
“One of my boyhood heroes. RIP.”