Juan Martin Coggi

Infobox_Boxer
name = Juan Coggi
nationality = flagicon|ARG Argentinian
realname = Juan Martin Coggi


nickname = El Látigo (The Whip)
weight = Light Welterweight
birth_date = Birth date and age|1961|12|19|mf=y
birth_place = Fighiera, Santa Fe, Argentina
style = Orthodox
total = 82
wins = 75
KO = 44
losses = 5
draws = 2
no contests = 0

Juan Martin Coggi (born December 19, 1961) is a former boxer from Argentina. A native of Santa Fe, which was also the birthplace of Carlos Monzon, Coggi was a three time world light welterweight champion. He had 75 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws, with 44 wins by knockout. He never lost a fight by knockout.

Early boxing career

After a stellar amateur career, Coggi became a professional boxer on April 2, 1982, knocking out Horacio Valdes in four rounds at La Plata. Coggi won seven of his first ten bouts by knockout. The first boxer to last the scheduled distance with him was Viterman Sanchez, who lost a six round decision to Coggi on May 7, 1982.

Coggi went undefeated for 21 bouts, with 11 knockout wins. Then, on March 9, 1985, he met Adolfo Arce Rossi in Buenos Aires. Arce Rossi became the first boxer to defeat Coggi by outpointing him over ten rounds. After one more win, Coggi fought to a draw over ten rounds with Ramon Collado, on June 20 of that same year.

Coggi went on a six-fight winning streak before he and Collado met again. Once again, Collado held him to a ten round draw, on July 19, 1986.

On October 25 of that year, Coggi won the Argentine light welterweight title, knocking out Hugo Hernandez in three rounds.

Championship career

Despite having a record that included no one of apparent relevance, the WBA placed Coggi on top of their list of challengers for the world crown at the light welterweight division. After one more win, Coggi challenged for the world title for the first time.

The WBA's world champion, Patrizio Oliva, had dethroned Coggi's countryman, Ubaldo Sacco, to win the world championship. So the fight between Coggi and Oliva generated much interest among Argentine boxing fans. Coggi's first title try was also his first fight abroad, as the fight was held in Ribera, Italy, on July 4, 1987. Coggi caused a minor upset when he knocked out Oliva in three rounds to become world champion.

Like Monzon, Coggi also became well liked in Italy despite the fact he had beaten an Italian for the world championship. Coggi would fight in Italy a number of times during the rest of his career. His first title defense came in Italy, when he knocked out Sang-Ho Lee in two rounds on May 7, 1988.

After beating Lee, he would win four non-title bouts in his country, including two ten round decisions over Jorge Tejada, who later became a contender in the welterweight division.

For his second defense, Coggi returned to Italy, where he defeated perennial contender Harold Brazier of the United States by a twelve round unanimous decision on January 21, 1989.

His third defense, on April 29, 1989, was also held in Italy. He defeated future world champion Akinobu Hiranaka by a twelve round decision. After two non title wins, Coggi had four fights in France, beginning with a fourth round knockout victory over Jesse Williams in another non-title bout.

On March 24, 1990, Coggi beat the former lightweight champion Jose Luis Ramirez by a twelve round unanimous decision to retain the title. After beating Danilo Cabrera by knockout in round five, Coggi defended his title in Nice against the relatively unheralded Loreto Garza of Sacramento, California, on August 17. This time around, it was Coggi's turn to lose in a mild upset, as Garza became the champion by outpointing Coggi over twelve rounds.

On his next fight, held on November 11 at Buenos Aires, Coggi once again outpointed Tejada over ten rounds.

His next fight happened under extremely unlikely cirmcunstances: he was in Sacramento to watch Garza defend his world title and, at the same time, challenge him to a rematch, when one of the boxers to be featured as part of the night's undercard suffered a car accident at the Arco Arena parking lot and broke his wrist. Coggi took on the role of substitute fighter, and he beat Alberto Alcaraz by a knockout in round seven, December 1.

Coggi went on to win his next eleven fights, six of them by knockout, before challenging Morris East for the WBA title on January 12, 1993, in Mar del Plata. Coggi became a light welterweight champion for the second time that night when he knocked East out in eight rounds.

On April 10, 1993, he made his first defense of his second reign, knocking out perennial Puerto Rican world title challenger Joe Rivera in seven rounds, in Mar del Plata. Next, he defended against Hiroyuki Yoshino on June 23. In what marked his Asian debut, Coggi knocked Yoshino out in five rounds, in a fight held in Tokyo, Japan.

He defended his title three more times in 1993. On August 13, he outpointed Jose Rafael Barbosa over twelve rounds in Buenos Aires, once again, retaining the world title. On September 24, he knocked out Guillermo Cruz in ten rounds at Tucuman, and then, on December 11, he closed 1993 by knocking out Eder Gonzalez, also in Tucuman, in the seventh round.

He and Gonzalez had a rematch on March 18, 1994. In what marked Coggi's American debut, he knocked Gonzalez out in three rounds at Las Vegas, Nevada, once again, retaining the title.

Bouts with Frankie Randall

On September 17, 1994, he began a series of three controversial bouts with former Chávez conqueror Frankie Randall, who relieved Coggi of the title by beating him by a twelve round unanimous decision. Coggi suffered three knockdowns during the fight.

Coggi had two more wins, then he faced Randall for the second time. Coggi became champion for the third time on January 13, 1996, when he beat Randall by a fifth round technical decision. Randall was controlling the fight when he went down when his feet became tangled with Coggi in the third round. Because Coggi landed a glancing blow as Randall went down, Coggi was credited with a knockdown by the referee. In the fifth round, the two fighters clashed heads and Coggi walked to his corner and lay down. The referee tried to convince Coggi to fight but he was either unwilling or unable to do so. The ringside physician later said that Coggi was coherent and when Coggi was examined at a hospital after the fight, he was given a clean bill of health. The fight went to the scorecards and Coggi was ahead on all judges' cards by one point (due to the knockdown called against Randall in the third round). [Citation
last = Knox
first = Ken
title = Frankie Randall's Latest Scandal
journal = The Ring
volume = 75, no. 5
page = 36-37
date = May 1996] Due to the controversial nature of the match, the WBA ordered a third bout between the two rivals. The third fight between Coggi and Randall came on August 16, at Buenos Aires. Coggi suffered a knockdown in the second round, which would prove to be pivotal in the end, as Randall pulled a unanimous but close decision to recover the title.

Post-championship career

The rest of his career, Coggi fought second level opposition, posting five wins in a row, three by knockout, before facing another well known fighter. In Coggi's last fight, contended on May 29, 1999, he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Michele Piccirillo in Italy.

Retirement

Coggi is now a boxing trainer. His son, Juan Manuel Coggi Jr., is a professional boxer.

Trivia

Coggi was one of Raúl Alfonsín's favorite boxers: in a rare opportunity for a boxer, President Alfonsín invited Coggi to his presidential home after Coggi became world champion for the first time.

External links

*

References