Pierre Jacy Fourie 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 ...
. He was the undefeated middle and light heavyweight South African champion and held both titles at the same time. He retired from the ring in 1977. He died on 21 June 1980, a few days before his 37th birthday in a motor vehicle accident at
Cecil Payne Park in
Roodepoort
Roodepoort is a town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical g ...
South Africa.
He was the first white boxer in
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
South Africa to fight against a non-white opponent, American
Bob Foster on 21 August 1973 in South Africa.
Career
Trained by Allan Toweel, Pierre joined the professional boxing ranks on 2 May 1966. He won his very first fight with a knockout in the first round. The partnership between Fourie and Toweel, one of the most successful in the history of South African boxing, continued throughout the eleven years of Fourie's career as a boxer. In his 60 professional fights, Fourie distinguished himself as a hard but clean and scientific boxer rather than a rough fighter.
He beat Johnny Wood twice and Willie Ludick to retain his South African middleweight title and was undefeated. He moved into the light heavyweight division. He fought Sarel Aucamp twice to retain his South African light heavyweight title and was undefeated. He fought Bob Foster for the
WBC light heavyweight title and
WBA World light heavyweight title twice and
Victor Galíndez for the WBA World light heavyweight title twice. He lost these on points. His last fight was contentious and many believed he had won. Ironically, Galindez also died in a motor vehicle crash, only 4 months after Fourie.
He gained 52 victories, Fourie was beaten on points: by Foster on 21 August 1973 in Albuquerque (USA) and on 1 December 1973 in the
Rand Stadium
The Rand Stadium is a stadium in Rosettenville, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was set to be utilized as a training field for teams participating in the 2010 FIFA World Cup after being completely rebuilt and reopened in August 2008. D ...
; by Galíndez on 5 April 1975 at
Ellis Park (Johannesburg) and on 13 September 1975 in the Rand Stadium. The second fight between Fourie and Foster on 1 December 1973 was the first between a white and black boxer in South Africa and constituted a breakthrough for the removal of racial discrimination in professional boxing and other sports. At the time the attendance figure of 37,4704 spectators, the gate money of approximately R500,000, and the guaranteed purse of $200,000 to Foster, were world records for the light heavyweight division.
In his last fight in March 1977, he fought
Gerrie Coetzee
Gerhardus Christian Coetzee (born 8 April 1955) is a South African former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1986, and in 1993 and 1997. He was the first African ever to fight for, and win, a world heavyweight championship, having hel ...
for the South African heavyweight title and lost.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourie, Pierre
South African male boxers
White South African people
1943 births
1980 deaths
Light-heavyweight boxers
Boxers from Johannesburg
Road incident deaths in South Africa