Stoffel du Plessis

Stoffel du Plessis (27 December 1932 – 8 March 2000) born Christoffel Petrus du Plessis, in the district of Lichtenburg, was a South African amateur and professional middleweight boxer of the 1950s.

Stoffel du Plessis
Statistics
Real nameChristoffel Petrus du Plessis
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height5 ft 6.5 in (1.69 m)
NationalitySouth African
Born27 December 1932
Lichtenburg, South Africa
Died8 March 2000 (aged 67)
Klerksdorp, South Africa
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights19
Wins11 (KO 4)
Losses6
Draws2

Early life

Du Plessis was born in the district of Lichtenburg, Transvaal, where his father, a Boer farmer originally from the Wolmaransstad district, earned a living as diamond digger at Elandsputte. After completing school, Du Plessis completed his apprenticeship in Johannesburg to become a bricklayer.[1] Stoffel had a younger brother, Botha du Plessis, a 1956 Olympic boxer.

Amateur career

Du Plessis' amateur record dates from 1948, when he fought for two years as a junior at weights ranging from 114 and 135 pounds. His career as senior lasted from 1950 to 1952, competing at 140 pounds, 147 pounds, 156 pounds and finally at 165 pounds. During this time, he represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games. On 17 April 1952, Du Plessis lost to Theuns van Schalkwyk on points during the final of the South African trials for the 1952 Olympic Games. Van Schalkwyk, who was the reigning Commonwealth champion, went on to win silver at the said Olympic Games. Du Plessis finished his amateur career on 27 September 1952, with a first-round knockout of A Nel in Bloemfontein, amassing a record of 30-19-3 (16 KO). As an amateur he was crowned both Transvaal and South African middleweight champion.

Professional career

The Transvaal Board of Control for Professional Boxing and Wrestling granted Du Plessis his professional boxing license on 6 February 1953. After his first four bouts, and victories over Corrie van Niekerk and Alex Weiss,[2] Du Plessis was ranked as Class A by the magazine Boxing Round-Up.[3] After fighting 13 more times during the next three years, Du Plessis earned a title shot against reigning South African middleweight champion, Mike Holt.

Holt vs. Du Plessis
Front page of the souvenir programme for Stoffel du Plessis's middleweight title fight with Mike Holt.

Du Plessis fought Mike Holt for the South African Middleweight title in the Durban City Hall on 12 September 1956.[4]

On fight night, Du Plessis weighed 5½ pounds less than Holt.[5] By the second round, “Holt’s nose was a dull red blob on his face, thanks to Du Plessis’s left jabs, which found a way through Holt’s wide open stance.” [5] A cut appeared next to Holt's left eye in the fourth round, though Du Plessis was in a far worse state at this time, bleeding from the nose and having a cut eye himself. After a “gory fifth round”, Holt pressured Du Plessis through the next two rounds, dropping him in the sixth.[5] By the seventh round Du Plessis's cut was so bad that he could not continue the bout.

The pair were to fight again only 10 days later, on 22 September 1956 in Salisbury, Rhodesia.[6] Holt dropped Du Plessis three times in the first round, winning by TKO in the second.

Stoffel du Plessis retired from professional boxing after this fight.

Personal life

Du Plessis moved to Klerksdorp in the mid 1950s, an area from which the family hailed originally. He worked privately as a bricklayer, before becoming a mason at Hartbeestfontein gold mine to the east of the town.[1] He worked there up to his retirement nearly thirty years later. For many years, Du Plessis was coach of the Klerksdorp amateur boxing club. Both his sons were to train there, earning Transvaal colours. His oldest son would become South African University Champion at welterweight in 1979, representing the University of Pretoria where he studied to become a veterinary surgeon. Later South African heavyweight champion, Kallie Knoetze, grew up in this gym as an amateur.

Du Plessis was a staunch supporter of the Herstigte Nasionale Party, especially under the leadership of Jaap Marais. In later life, Du Plessis raced pigeons as a hobby.[1] He died on 8 March 2000 at his home in Klerksdorp, after a short battle with lymphoma.

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
19 fights 11 wins 6 losses
By knockout 4 4
By decision 7 1
By disqualification 0 1
Draws 2
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
18 Loss 11–5–2 Mike Holt TKO 2 (?) 22 Sep 1955 Raylton Sports Club, Salisbury, Rhodesia
18 Loss 11–5–2 Mike Holt RTD 6 (12) 12 Sep 1955 City Hall, Durban, South Africa South African middleweight title
17 Draw 11–4–2 Chris van Rooyen D 4 21 Jul 1955 Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, South Africa
16 Win 11–4–1 Vittorio Corso PTS 6 19 Nov 1955 Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, South Africa
15 Win 10–4–1 Arthur Ketchell PTS 6 19 Nov 1955 Davies Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
14 Win 9–4–1 Warrance Burger TKO 4 (?) 9 Apr 1955 City Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
13 Draw 8–4–1 Mannetjie Roux (“Kid Valentine”) D 4 14 Mar 1955 Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
12 Loss 8–4 Jimmy Elliot DQ 6 13 Dec 1954 Raylton Sports Club, Salisbury, Rhodesia
11 Win 8–3 Kenny Lawrence PTS 4 30 Jun 1954 Olympia Ice Rink, Johannesburg, South Africa
10 Win 7–3 Johnny Roberts PTS 4 22 May 1954 City Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
9 Win 6–3 Chris van Rooyen PTS 4 10 Apr 1954 Welkom, South Africa
8 Loss 5–3 Albert Scott TKO 6 (6) 26 Oct 1953 Selborne Hall, Johannesburg, South Africa
7 Win 5–2 Johnny Bezuidenhout TKO 4 29 Jan 1954 City Hall, Durban, South Africa
6 Loss 4–2 Kenny Lawrence PTS 4 26 Oct 1953 Feather Market Hall, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
5 Win 4–1 Johnny Roberts PTS 4 5 Aug 1953 Wembley Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa
4 Win 3–1 Alex Weiss PTS 4 6 Jul 1953 Mike Friedman’s Gym, Johannesburg, South Africa
3 Win 2–1 Corrie van Niekerk PTS 4 27 Jul 1953 Feather Market Hall, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
2 Win 1–1 Jan Scheepers KO 3 (?) 13 Apr 1953 Mike Friedman’s Gym, Johannesburg, South Africa
1 Loss 0–1 Chris van Rooyen TKO 1 (6) 21 Feb 1953 Far North Rugby Stadium, Pietersburg, South Africa Professional debut
gollark: It will write code, but do inverse indenting, like this:
gollark: Actually, in the UK I think that's fairly normal.
gollark: It will devour all light in this universe and the next.
gollark: It will tear apart the very fabric of space and time so that it may torture you more thoroughly.
gollark: It will install potatOS on your brain, and not in a nice way.

References
  1. Hartbeestfontein Gold Mining Co Ltd. (1990). 25 Year Service Awards. Klerksdorp: Hartbeestfontein Goldmining Co Ltd. p. 10.
  2. Neill, Leonard. "European Records". Boxing Round-Up. Vol. 1 no. 3. p. 10.
  3. Neill, Leonard. "Leonard Neill's Ratings". Boxing Round-Up. Vol. 1 no. 3. p. 6.
  4. "Mike Holt v Stoffel du Plessis 1". BoxRec. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
  5. Dovale, Trevor (13 September 1956). "Holt – no "destroyer" – outpunches Du Plessis". The Natal Daily News. p. 20.
  6. "Mike Holt v Stoffel du Plessis 2". BoxRec. Retrieved November 13, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.