Editing Gerrie Coetzee (section)

===Rise to championship contention===
Coetzee started boxing professionally on the night of 14 September 1974, when he beat 19 fight veteran and fellow South African Christian Roos by a decision in four. Coetzee followed his early success with a string of victories in his homeland. Among those wins was one over Roos in a rematch, which Coetzee won by a [[knockout]] in three rounds; he also defeated South African [[Mike Schutte (boxer)|Mike Schutte]] who had been casually considered as a potential gimmick opponent for [[Muhammad Ali]]. Coetzee's other notable wins included defeating former world title challengers [[Ron Stander]], Randy Stephens, and [[Pierre Fourie]]; a South African Heavyweight championship victory against amateur rival [[Kallie Knoetze]] (unanimous decision in 10) as well as a first-round knockout of former world heavyweight champion [[Leon Spinks]]. With exception of the Spinks bout, held at [[Monte Carlo]], the majority of Coetzee's fights during his early run were held in his native South Africa.

In the fight with Spinks, the former champion attacked Coetzee and pressured him, throwing punches from many angles and trying to steam-roll the South African. Coetzee composed himself and, with a short right hand delivered to Spinks' temple, knocked down the former world champion. Coetzee proceeded to drop Spinks two more times to record a first round [[technical knockout]]. The win enhanced Coetzee's reputation as a real title threat in the post-Ali landscape of the heavyweight division.