Daniel Wepener Bekker ( born February 9, 1932 , Dordrech - October 22, 2009 , Pretoria ) is a heavyweight South African boxer . In the second half of the 1950s he played for the South African national team: silver and bronze medalist of the Summer Olympic Games, champion of the Commonwealth Games, seven-time champion of South Africa, participant in many international tournaments and match meetings. In the period 1961-1968 he boxed on a professional level, but without special achievements.
 Daniel Becker | |||||||||||||||||
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| English Daniel Wepener Bekker | |||||||||||||||||
| general information | |||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  South Africa | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | February 9, 1932 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Dordrech | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | October 22, 2009 (77 years old) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Pretoria | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight category | heavy (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Growth | 180 cm | ||||||||||||||||
| Professional career | |||||||||||||||||
| First fight | November 29, 1961 | ||||||||||||||||
| The last battle | September 7, 1968 | ||||||||||||||||
| Number of battles | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Number of wins | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| KOs | four | ||||||||||||||||
| Defeat | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| No one's | one | ||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Biography
Born February 9, 1932 in the city of Dordrech , Eastern Cape . He grew up in a large sports family, in particular, three of his brothers were professional rugby players, and his sister represented the country in athletics competitions. Daniel achieved his first serious success in the ring in 1952, when in the heavy weight category he became the champion of South Africa among amateurs (he subsequently repeated this achievement six more times). Thanks to a series of successful performances, he was awarded the right to defend the country's honor at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne - he managed to reach the semi-finals here, after which he was knocked out by the American Pete Rademacher , who eventually became the Olympic champion.
After receiving a bronze Olympic medal, Becker continued to enter the ring as part of the national team, taking part in all major international tournaments. So, in 1958, he went to the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, where he defeated all his rivals and won a gold medal. Remaining the best amateur heavyweight boxer in South Africa, he qualified for the 1960 Olympics in Rome - he defeated German Gunter Sigmund in the semifinals, but was defeated by Italian knockout Francesco de Piccoli in the decisive match. Having added a silver Olympic award to his track record, he decided to try himself among professionals and left the national team.
Becker's professional debut took place in November 1961, he defeated his first opponent by technical knockout in the first round. Over the course of several months, he had a number of successful fights, won and defended the South African heavyweight title, but at the beginning of 1963 he was heavily knocked out, lost his champion belt and decided to end his career as an athlete. Despite the completion of his sports career, in September 1968 he still made an attempt to return to the ring and held another match - he won on points in four rounds. In total, he spent 9 fights in professional boxing, of which 6 ended with victory (including 4 ahead of schedule), lost 2 times, in one case a draw was recorded. In later years, he suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's syndromes.
Died October 22, 2009 in Pretoria [1] .
Notes
- ↑ Ron Jackson, SA super amateur passes. Archived July 30, 2012. Fightnews.com. Retrieved on October 23, 2009.
Links
- Daniel Becker - Olympic stats on Sports-Reference.com
- Daniel Becker - professional boxing statistics for BoxRec