Celebrating the "The Bionic Hand" - Gerrie Coetzee
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This week on Touchdown we are focused on an incredibly exciting movie that will be called Against All Odds.
Now this movie will document the famous achievements of Africa's first world heavyweight boxing champion, Gerrie Coetzee. "Seer Handjies" or "Sore Little Hands" as many of his South African fans might know him. Coetzee was the first fighter in the history of world boxing to claim the WBA heavyweight title for the African continent.
“The reason why we decided to call this movie Against All Odds is simply because he had to overcome so many challenges in his boxing career especially dealing with the persistent challenges with his right hand, which required the insertion of several corrective items during three surgeries”, said Kenddrie Utuk, the executive director of the movie.
He also shared the special events that lead to the friendship between Gerrie Coetzee and Muhamed Ali.
Utuk said: “The first time they met was at Madison Square Gardens in New York, where they took several pictures. Ali would invite Coetzee to his hotel room and they would chat for hours. Ali became a mentor to Coetzee”
Dr Khalilah Camacho Ali, the second of Ali's four former spouses, said: “we’ve followed his (Gerrie Coetzee) career during Apartheid and he and Ali shared the same values when it came to freedom, justice and equality”.
Dr Ali also explained why this movie is so important for the legacy of both Ali and Coetzee.
“This legacy will go down in history for a very long time and I’m honored to be apart it. People need to know the real story of Muhamed Ali and Gerrie Coetzee. This is for our young people”, said Dr Ali.
Filming in South Africa will commence in a few months with South African director Koos Roets and South African producer Andre Scholtz at the helm. The cast will include several South African actors.
Now this movie will document the famous achievements of Africa's first world heavyweight boxing champion, Gerrie Coetzee. "Seer Handjies" or "Sore Little Hands" as many of his South African fans might know him. Coetzee was the first fighter in the history of world boxing to claim the WBA heavyweight title for the African continent.
“The reason why we decided to call this movie Against All Odds is simply because he had to overcome so many challenges in his boxing career especially dealing with the persistent challenges with his right hand, which required the insertion of several corrective items during three surgeries”, said Kenddrie Utuk, the executive director of the movie.
He also shared the special events that lead to the friendship between Gerrie Coetzee and Muhamed Ali.
Utuk said: “The first time they met was at Madison Square Gardens in New York, where they took several pictures. Ali would invite Coetzee to his hotel room and they would chat for hours. Ali became a mentor to Coetzee”
Dr Khalilah Camacho Ali, the second of Ali's four former spouses, said: “we’ve followed his (Gerrie Coetzee) career during Apartheid and he and Ali shared the same values when it came to freedom, justice and equality”.
Dr Ali also explained why this movie is so important for the legacy of both Ali and Coetzee.
“This legacy will go down in history for a very long time and I’m honored to be apart it. People need to know the real story of Muhamed Ali and Gerrie Coetzee. This is for our young people”, said Dr Ali.
Filming in South Africa will commence in a few months with South African director Koos Roets and South African producer Andre Scholtz at the helm. The cast will include several South African actors.