Juan Martin Coggi
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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 Jr. Welterweight champion, as so a recognized and respected sportsman in his home country. His nickname was El Látigo (The Whip). He 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.
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 of '82.
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 drew (tied) over ten rounds with Ramon Collado, on June 20 of that same year.
Coggi went on another winning streak, which reached six, 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 Jr. Welterweight title, knocking out Hugo Hernandez in three rounds.
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 Jr. 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, May 7 of 1988.
Coggi was also gaining fame across Latin America after winning the crown, particularly in countries where boxing is considered an important sport, such as Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. After beating Lee, he would win four non-title bouts in his country, including two ten round decisions over Jorge Tejada, who later became an important challenger 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 Akibonu Hiranaka by a twelve round decision. After two more, 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 of 1990, Coggi beat the former multiple times world Lightweight champion, Jose Luis Ramirez, by a twelve round unanimous decision to retain the title. After that, both boxing fans and critics alike wanted to see a unification bout between Coggi and WBC world champion Julio César Chávez; according to Coggi's supporters, the fight never materialized because Chávez was asking for a very large amount of money to fight Coggi.
After beating former Chávez and Azumah Nelson rival 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 WBA's world Jr. Welterweight 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 (who had dethroned Hiranaka), for the WBA's world title on January 12, 1993 in Mar del Plata. Coggi became a world Jr. Welterweight champion for the second time that night, when he knocked East out in eight rounds.
On April 10, he made his first defense of his second reign, knocking out perennial Puerto Rican world title challenger Joe Rivera in seven rounds, at Mar del Plata. Next, he defended against Hiroyuki Yoshino on June 23. In what marked his Asian debut, Coggi knocked Hoshino out in five rounds, in a fight held in Tokyo, Japan.
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. Both of those fights were also world championship bouts.
He and Gonzalez had a rematch, March 18 of 1994. In what marked Coggi's American debut, he knocked Gonzalez out in three rounds at Las Vegas, Nevada, once again, retaining the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight title. But on his next defense, September 17, 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. After the fight, Randall expressed his anger at Chávez for choosing to fight another opponent and not facing him for the third time instead. Coggi suffered four knockdowns during his first fight with Randall.
Coggi had two more wins, then he faced Randall for the second time. Coggi became the WBA's world Jr. Welterweight champion for the third time on January 13, 1996, when he beat Randall by a fifth round technical decision. Randall claimed he had been robbed of a win, and the WBA ordered an immediate, third bout between the two rivals. It shall be mentioned that Coggi had dropped Randall in round three before the fight ended in round five.
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 (111-117,112-115 and 113-114) decision to recover the WBA world Jr. Welterweight title.
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 Pichirillo, now a top ten contender on the major organizations, for the little recognized WBU Jr. welterweight title, once again, in Italy.
Coggi is now a boxing trainer, and his son, Juan Manuel Coggi Jr., has joined a group of sons and daughters of legendary greats which includes Laila Ali, Hector Camacho Jr., Julio César Chávez Jr.. Irichelle Duran, Roberto Duran Jr., Jackie Frazier-Lyde, Freeda Foreman and many others who are trying to emulate their father's careers. So far, Juan Martin Coggi Jr. is undefeated as a professional boxer.
Juan Martin Coggi had 75 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws, with 44 wins by knockout. He never lost a fight by knockout.
| Preceded by Patrizio Oliva |
WBA Light Welterweight Champion 4 Jul 1987–17 Aug 1990 |
Succeeded by Loreto Garza |
| Preceded by Morris East |
WBA Light Welterweight Champion 12 Jan 1993–17 Sep 1994 |
Succeeded by Frankie Randall |
| Preceded by Frankie Randall |
WBA Light Welterweight Champion 13 Jan 1996–16 Aug 1996 |
Succeeded by Frankie Randall |
