The WBC’s bridgerweight division, its 18th weight class, has come as a blessing to South African fighters, especially those who have been campaigning in the heavyweight division.
Established by WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán in 2020, the division sits between the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
It caters for small heavyweight fighters. The weight limit is 106 kilograms. Former IBO cruiserweight champ, Kevin Lerena, rules the division with an iron fist after his stunning defeat of Ukrainian Serhiy Radchenko on Thursday.
Current SA heavyweight titlist Shaun Potgieter, and former national heavyweight champions Chris Thompson and Keaton Gomes, are also rated in that weight class.
Gomes won his debut match in the division in the WBC Grand Prix Series in Saudi Arabia last month.
Former Gauteng and WBA Pan African cruiserweight champ Akani Phuzi won his first fight in that weight class last weekend.
His trainer/manager, Damien Durandt, said: “The plan is to campaign at international level.”
SA has always struggled to produce fully fledged heavyweight boxers, except for Gerrie Coetzee, whose weight was about 115 kilograms.
Coetzee’s size made it possible for him to stand and trade blows with the likes of John Tate, Mike Weaver, Greg Page, Michael Dokes and Frank Bruno, though most of these Americans stopped him within scheduled distances.
Corrie Sanders was a small heavyweight at 109 kilograms. He defeated fringe opponents en route to winning the WBU belt, which he defended successfully three times against average opponents.
The moment he met a credible and fully fledged heavyweight contender in Hasim Rahman, who weighed 129 kilograms, Sanders’ size was exposed.
He just could not hurt the American, who stopped him in round seven in 2000.
Sanders’ hand speed was his best weapon, and it helped him win the WBO title in 2003 via a second-round stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko.
Sanders’ reign was short-lived. Kitschko’s brother, Vitali Klitschko, stopped him in eight rounds the following year.
Pierre Coetzer and Francois were like Sanders, with Coetzer reigning supreme as the national heavyweight champ.
But he was knocked out in round one by American Bernard Benton — a full-blown former WBC and The Ring cruiserweight champion — who made his debut in the heavyweight division against Coetzer at Standard Bank Arena on September 28 1987.
Coetzer made the biggest mistake of his life in facing George Foreman, who severely punished him, ultimately winning by a technical knockout in the eighth round.
Sanders and Coetzer, on reflection, would have done well in the bridgerweight division.
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