Corrie Sanders
|
|
Cornelius Johannes Sanders (born 1967) is a South African boxer. He is the third boxer from the African continent to become world Heavyweight champion, behind countrymen Gerrie Coetzee and Francois Botha.
Sanders began his boxing career with a first round knockout of King Kong Dyubele in the first round, on April 2, 1989.
He won his first 23 bouts, 15 by knockout. Among the fighters he beat during that streak were Steve Zouski, Art Card, future WBO world Cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson and future Evander Holyfield world title challenger Bert Cooper.
On fight number 24, May 21 of 1994, he suffered his first defeat, at the hands of Nate Tubbs, by a knockout in round two.
He fought 12 more times over the next five years, including a first round knockout over former world Cruiserweight champion Carlos De Leon and a second round knockout over another former world champion, Bobby Czyz. A stoppage loss to future champion Hasim Rahman in a bout Sanders was winning confirmed his ability and also his vulnerability. Returning to the ring in 2000 he scored easy wins over journeyman winning 2 bouts between there and 2003 but fighting a grand total of three rounds on those two bouts put together.
Despite that, the WBO made Sanders a challenger of WBO World Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Much talk had been going on everywhere in the boxing world (boxing magazines, shows, etc) about a unification bout between Klitschko and WBC world champion Lennox Lewis. But on March 8 of 2003, Sanders provided most boxing experts with an upset when he dropped Klitschko four times in two rounds to become the WBO's world Heavyweight champion by a knockout in round two.
With that win, Sanders then joined Coetzee and Botha in the short list of African world Heavyweight champions.
Shortly after, he left the WBO crown vacant. On December of that year, news ran across newspapers that he had lost an eight round bout by decision in South Africa. It was soon discovered, however, that the fighter who lost that fight was not him, but another one named Corry Sanders, who is also South African.
Corrie Sanders fought for a world championship for the second time on April 24 of 2004, fighting Wladimir's brother, Vitali, for the WBC world Heavyweight title that had been vacated by Lennox Lewis. He was knocked out by Vitali in eight rounds at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
His record currently stands at 38 wins and 3 losses with 28 wins by knockout.de:Corrie Sanders