[2] Michael Dokes had been the WBA's world heavyweight champion since December 10, 1982, when referee Joey Curtis stopped his first fight with Mike Weaver in the first round.

Most boxing fans and critics considered Holmes the legitimate world Heavyweight champion, and there were different views concerning the Black versus White factor on this fight.

But, there was one fact that did not allow for the fight's promotional stage to take on a racial tune as did Holmes-Cooney one year before: Coetzee was openly opposed to Apartheid, publicly suggesting that he was not racist.

It was the last bout in a multi-bout fight card that included an Azumah Nelson knockout victory in two rounds over Puerto Rico's Alberto Collazo; Jeff Malcolm's ten-round decision win over future Aaron Pryor conqueror Bobby Joe Young; a fight between two of former Holmes challengers in which Alfredo Evangelista outpointed Snipes over ten rounds, and future world champion Tim Witherspoon's spectacular first-round knockout win over former title challenger (WBA title, Mike Weaver) James Tillis.

Dokes entered the ring by throwing flowers and blowing kisses to the ladies present at the event (a customary thing for him to do before his fights) .

Coetzee, unlike in the Tate and Weaver bouts where he was considered a real threat, was a decided underdog in the odds, as well as in the opinion of the fight crowd.

For the first few rounds the script played as it was written, as Dokes flashed his impressive hand speed, and combined head and body shots to keep Coetzee off balance.

In the fifth round, however, things changed when Coetzee connected with a right hand to Dokes' jaw, sending the champion to the canvas on one knee.

He also had been a virtually one-armed fighter, relying almost solely on big right hands (the so-called "Bionic Right," so named because it was so often broken, it was surgically fused as a solid fist, giving Coetzee a supposedly unnaturally powerful punch.

He connected with another hard right that sent Dokes to the canvas again, this time with his body rolling until he could grab one of the ring's ropes with his right hand glove.

Dokes subsequently had run-ins with the law, and would ultimately succumb to liver cancer in August 2012, dying the day after his 54th birthday.