August 4th

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1900- Danny Dougherty W 25 Tommy Feltz, Brooklyn. Retains World Bantamweight Title.
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1932- Kid Chocolate W 10 Eddie Shea, Cincinnati. Retains World Super Featherweight Title.
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1936- Henry Armstrong W 10 Baby Arizmendi, Los Angeles. Wins California & Mexican World Featherweight Title.
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1944- Beau Jack W 10 Bob Montgomery, NYC. "Jack, revealing the ceaseless aggressiveness that always characterizes his ring work, won the decision in an encounter that was hard fought through every one of the ten rounds". (New York Times). The official scorecards were 6-2-2, 6-1-3, and 5-5. This was a war bond program and none of the fighters were paid.
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1947- Ike Williams KO 6 Bob Montgomery, Philadelphia. Unifies World Lightweight Title.
Williams avenges a previous KO defeat from Montgomery.
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1952- Joey Giardello W 10 Billy Graham, Brooklyn. Disputed decision. Official scorecards: 6-3-1, 6-4 for Giardello, & 5-4-1 for Graham.
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1970- George Foreman KO 3 George Chuvalo
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1973- Betulio Gonzalez W 15 Miguel Canto, Maracaibo. Regains vacant WBC Flyweight Title.
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1979- Ernesto Espana KO 10 Johnny Lira, Chicago. Retains WBA Lightweight Title. Lira suffered a broken jaw in the 8th round.
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1980- Hilario Zapata W 15 Rey Mendez, Caracas. Retains WBC Junior Flyweight Title.

1984- Satoshi Shingaki W 15 Joves de la Puz, Naha City, Japan. Retains IBF Bantamweight Title.

1988- Jorge Paez W 15 Calvin Grove, Mexicali, MX. Wins IBF Featherweight Title. Referee: Al Rothenberg | Judge: Jim Traylor 142-142 | Judge: Dave McCullough 143-140 | Judge: Robert González 142-140. Grove knocked down three times in the 15th round.

1996- Light Middleweight David Reid, a native of Philadelphia, becomes the only American boxer to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, coming from behind to knock out Cuba’s Alfredo Duvergel in round three.

2002- Former WBC Heavyweight titleholder Trevor Berbick is arrested in Miramor, Florida, and charged with reentering the United States after already having been deported.

2007- David Diaz W 12 Erik Morales, Rosemont, Ill. Retains WBC Lightweight Title.

2007- Israel Vasquez KO 6 Rafael Marquez, Hidaldo, TX. Regains World Super Bantamweight Title.

2007- Celestino Caballero W 12 Jorge Lacierva, Hidalgo, TX. Retains WBA Super Bantamweight Title.

2007- Ulises Solis KO 8 Rodel Mayol, Rosemont, Ill. Retains IBF Junior Flyweight Title.

Born On This Day

1955- Gerrie Coetzee (born Gerhardus Christian Coetzee in Boksburg, South Africa)
Coetzee made history twice: he was the first boxer from the African continent ever to fight for the World Heavyweight Title, and the first to win the World Heavyweight Title. His nickname was The Bionic Man, because he always had trouble with his right hand, and had a few corrective items put in it during three surgeries. His Afrikaans nickname was "Seer Handjies" or little sore hands, named so by South African boxing great Callie Knoetze.
Coetzee started boxing professionally on the night of September 14, 1974, when he beat 19 fight veteran Christian Roos by a decision in four. He followed that win with 21 consecutive wins to reach a record of 22-0 before fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship (WBA version) for the first time. Among those wins was one over Roos in a rematch, which Coetzee won by a knockout in three rounds; wins over former world title challengers Ron Stander, Randy Stephens and Pierre Fourie; a South African Heavyweight championship victory against 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 rest of Coetzee's fights during his early run were held in his native South Africa.
Coetzee had displayed impressive right-hand power, speed and composure in the Spinks win, legitimizing his reputation as a title threat.
He was able to challenge John Tate for the WBA's world Heavyweight title that had been left vacant by Muhammad Ali. The fight, according to many South African historians, did cause some social impact because it united 135,000 people to watch an event between a Black (Tate) and a White (Coetzee) in a South Africa that was split by apartheid. It was one of the first major public events where Blacks and Whites could join together in public since that ideology had taken over in South Africa. Coetzee became the first African born heavyweight ever to challenge for a world title, but his dream of becoming the first person from Africa to win the world Heavyweight champion had to wait, because he was beaten on points over 15 rounds.
Coetzee fought lethargically and his stamina and pace were lacking. Such would be the story of much of his career. Aggressive and willing, Coetzee nonetheless seemed to have no Plan B if he did not knock out his opponent. In future matches, his self-awareness of his stamina issues seemed to play on his performances.
Tate lasted only a short time as world champion, as he was beaten by Mike Weaver in his first title defence. Coetzee knocked out Mike Koraniki in the first round to keep his title hopes alive. Weaver then travelled to South Africa to defend his title against Coetzee, fighting in front of a very large crowd. Coetzee's dream was almost achieved in this fight, as his pressure and aggression saw him leading through 8 rounds, but Coetzee's stamina failed him and he began to throw fewer punches, lean and maul more and get hit more often coming in with his unprotected head high. He was knocked out by a counter right-hand in the 13th round.
Undaunted, Coetzee went back to boxing soon and beat fringe contender George Chaplin before facing Renaldo Snipes, a man who later would be seconds away from becoming world champion when he dropped Larry Holmes in a title challenge. Coetzee dropped Snipes multiple times and seemed to dominate, but the fight was scored by rounds and not on points, and he lost a ten round decision that was deemed one of the worst of the decade.
Coetzee racked up four victories between 1981 and 1983, including a defeat of former world title challenger Scott Le Doux. He faced future world champion Pinklon Thomas, who held him to a draw in a bout where Coetzee again had an early lead.
Despite the outcome of the Thomas fight, (or perhaps because of it) Coetzee received his third world title try against WBA title-holder Michael Dokes. By now known as someone who could not win "The Big One", the third time turned out to be the charm for Coetzee. In front of a crowd in Akron, Ohio and a HBO Boxing audience, Coetzee dominated Dokes, counter punching and utilizing his rarely used left hand in knocking out Dokes in the tenth round to become South Africa's first world Heavyweight champion. He also became the first caucasian world Heavyweight champion in 23 years. The fight was KO Magazine's Upset of The Year for 1983.
It turned out that the punch that knocked out Dokes hurt Coetzee even more: his right hand was broken and required his second surgery five days after the fight, in New York.
There was much talk about a unification bout with the other world Heavyweight champion, Holmes, in 1984, and a contract was duly signed. There were massive financial issues when the backer of the bout could not raise the original purse necessary, and Coetzee re-injured his hand during training camp, requiring another surgery. The fight was cancelled.
On his return to the ring, Coetzee was paired with Greg Page (the real #1 contender David Bey, refused to go to South Africa as described in "Only in America: The Life and Crimes of Don King" by Jack Newfield, Bey became the #1 by outpointing Greg Page over 12 rounds). In a give-and-take match highlighted by Coetzee's total lack of form and apparent overconfidence as well as Page's strong chin, the two exchanged momentum. It was clear however that Coetzee was a sitting duck for Page's counter-punching and his once dependable chin seemed to fail him. Coetzee lost his world title when he was knocked out by a left in round eight. This proved to be another controversial bout. Coetzee's camp protested that while Coetzee was on the canvas, the bell had sounded and the referee's count should have been waved off, which would have allowed Coetzee to continue for at least one more round. The round in question actually went for almost a minute too long. Despite this, the WBA decided to leave Page as the winner by a knockout in eight.
After losing his title, Coetzee made token attempts at a comeback. He beat Mike Tyson's rival James "Quick" Tillis by a decision in ten, and went to England to fight future world Heavyweight champion Frank Bruno, losing by a knockout in one. After that fight, he announced his retirement, but came back twice during the 1990s, winning by knockout in three against both Dave Fiddler and Wes Turner in 1993, and then winning against Dan Komiscki in three but losing to former world Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion Iran Barkley by a knockout in ten, after dropping him in round two, for a minor Heavyweight belt.
Coetzee has remained in retirement ever since.
His overall record stands at 33 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw, with 21 wins by knockout.

1972: Michael Grant (born Michael Anthony Grant in Chicago, IL)
Grant had just 12 amateur fights. In the Golden Gloves 1994 semi-finals he lost his only amateur fight to Derrick Jefferson on points.
In his early career, Grant beat Corey Sanders, Ross Puritty, ex-contender Lionel Butler, Al Cole, Cuban Jorge Luis Gonzalez, hard-punching David Izon and Obed Sullivan. He knocked down and outpointed Lou Savarese before most notably fighting Andrew Golota. During that fight Grant was knocked down twice in the first round only to come from behind to score a knockout in the tenth round. By this point he was ranked as the #3 heavyweight in the world by the Ring Magazine.
Grant's undefeated record and victories against Sullivan, Savarese and Golota earned him an opportunity to challenge newly crowned undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. Lewis was coming off a unanimous decision victory against Evander Holyfield and wanted to make a statement with his first title defence.
Grant started the fight very aggresively but was put down by a right hand. He got back to his feet and was beaten badly by Lewis, a left hand on the side of the head sending Grant reeling into the corner and counting as a second knockdown. Grant was badly hurt but seemed to recover toward the end of the first round until a vicious right hand sent him down for the third time. Remarkably Grant beat the count. His trainer Don Turner implored him to use his legs. While Grant tried to rally, Lewis took his time in round two before finishing Grant off with an uppercut.
Sidelined by injuries for fifteen months, in his comeback fight Grant fought and lost to Jameel McCline in 2001, where he was knocked down in the first round and had to retire due to a broken ankle. After a brief comeback, then-undefeated Dominick Guinn knocked him out in 2003 in seven rounds. Since the loss, Grant has fought sporadically against limited opposition. Most recently he defeated Demetrice King by unanimous decision in July 2008, and a November 2008 bout against Paul Marinaccio saw Grant win again by unanimous decision, having knocked Marinaccio down twice in the seventh round.
The once heavily-hyped Grant has had several high-profile trainers, including Don Turner, Teddy Atlas, Buddy McGirt and currently Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.
On May 7th 2010, Grant fought for the first time in eighteen months and won by first-round technical knockout over Kevin Burnett at Oheka Castle, Huntingdon, NY.
Grant is next scheduled to fight Polish heavyweight contender and former WBC light heavyweight and IBF Cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek (41-1) on August 21st at the Prudential Center, Newark, NJ.
His current record is 46-3 with 34 knockouts.

[KSTAT124]

2001- Wladimir Klitschko retained the WBO heavyweight title by stopping Charles Shufford at 2:55 of the 6th round; Las Vegas, Nevada.

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More on Micheal Grants Birthday Entry.

On Aug 21, 2010, with a 20 kg weight advantage, Grant was physically dominant, but lost on points to Tomasz Adamek by a unanimous decision.
On March 11th, 2011, Grant fought Tye Fields (45-2) at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Grant scored a one-punch third-round knockout.

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August 4, 1961-

Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina-

Future light heavyweight and heavyweight contender Gregorio Peralta battled to a 10-round draw with veteran Antonio Diaz.

This was the first of their three meetings. Peralta won the other two, also 10-rounders, by decision.

[ForceFed_231]

1988- Jorge Paez W 15 Calvin Grove, Mexicali, MX. Wins IBF Featherweight Title. Referee: Al Rothenberg | Judge: Jim Traylor 142-142 | Judge: Dave McCullough 143-140 | Judge: Robert González 142-140. Grove knocked down three times in the 15th round.

This was the last 15 round fight to be televised. USA Network televised.