The shortest world champion in boxing history was a South African sporting giant, Baby Jake Matlala, who won four versions of world titles during a 22-year career. The first South African to win four versions of a world title, Jacob Matlala became a legend and a sporting icon. Matlala, only 1.48m tall and weighing at […]
It still rates as one of the supreme moments in the history of SA sport; the night Gerrie Coetzee became heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Boxing’s heavyweight championship has always been considered to be the richest prize in sport. And Coetzee once held at least a portion of that prize. It must be remembered, […]
How many times haven’t you heard someone say, “He could have been great but he wasted his talent”? In the sport of boxing, we’ve come to appreciate the fact that some of the game’s most lavishly gifted athletes were never disciplined enough to fulfill their promise. Not that other sporting codes experienced less frustration. Indeed […]
A staggering 200 world championship fights have come and gone, the Haglers, Durans, Holyfields and Lewises among them, but somehow it all keeps coming back to a balmy night at Johannesburg’s Rand Stadium exactly 40 years ago. Stan Christodoulou was the third man in the ring when Arnold Taylor, the baker from Jeppe, and Mexico’s […]
When I was doing research last year for an article on unbeaten runs in boxing I included Young Stribling at No 20 in the list of fighters with the longest unbeaten run at any time in their career. His run started after his loss to future world light-heavyweight champion Tommy Loughran in May 1927 and […]