Daniel "Daan" Wepener Bekker (9 February 1932 – 22 October 2009) was a South African

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, who won the bronze medal in the Heavyweight division (+ 91 kg) at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Four years later in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

he captured the silver medal in the same category.

Amateur career

Bekker was the South African Heavyweight Champion from 1955–1959 and 1961.

Amateur results

*1956 won the Heavyweight bronze medal at the Melbourne Olympics. **Defeated José Giorgetti (Argentina) KO-1 **Lost to

Pete Rademacher Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer. A gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics, he became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional b ...

(USA) KO-3 *1958 won the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. **Defeated S. Renaud (Canada) TKO-1 **Defeated Gbadegesin Salawu (Nigeria) TKO-2 **Defeated David Thomas (England) PTS *1960 won the Heavyweight silver medal at the Rome Olympics. **Defeated

Władysław Jędrzejewski Władysław Jędrzejewski (11 February 1863 - 1940) was a General of the Polish Army, who was probably murdered by the NKVD in Lwów, in March 1940. He fought in several conflicts, including World War I and the Invasion of Poland. Jędrzejewsk ...

(Poland) TKO-1 **Defeated Obrad Sretenovic (Yugoslavia) KO-1 **Defeated Günter Siegmund (United Team of Germany) PTS (4-1) **Lost to

Franco De Piccoli Francesco De Piccoli (born 29 November 1937) is a former Italian boxer, who won the gold medal in the heavyweight division (+91 kg) at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Amateur career De Piccoli started training in boxing in 1955, and won ...

(Italy) KO-2

Death

Bekker died on 18 October 2009 after a long struggle with

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

s.Ron Jackson
SA super amateur passes
Fightnews.com. Retrieved 23 October 2009.

References

External links

*
1932 births 2009 deaths People from Dordrecht, Eastern Cape Heavyweight boxers Deaths from Parkinson's disease Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in South Africa Olympic boxers of South Africa Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for South Africa Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Sportspeople from Pretoria Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Boxers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Afrikaner people South African male boxers Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games {{SouthAfrica-Olympic-medalist-stub