Daniel "Daan" Wepener Bekker (9 February 1932 – 22 October 2009) was a South African

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, who won the bronze medal in the Heavyweight division (+ 91 kg) at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XVI Olympiad and officially branded as Melbourne 1956, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Four years later in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

he captured the silver medal in the same category.

Amateur career

Bekker was the South African Heavyweight Champion from 1955–1959 and 1961.

Amateur results

*1956 won the Heavyweight bronze medal at the Melbourne Olympics. **Defeated José Giorgetti (Argentina) KO-1 **Lost to

Pete Rademacher Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer. As an amateur, he was a gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics. Rademacher became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championsh ...

(USA) KO-3 *1958 won the Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales. **Defeated S. Renaud (Canada) TKO-1 **Defeated Gbadegesin Salawu (Nigeria) TKO-2 **Defeated David Thomas (England) PTS *1960 won the Heavyweight silver medal at the Rome Olympics. **Defeated

Władysław Jędrzejewski Władysław Jędrzejewski (11 February 1863–1940) was a General of the Polish Army, who was probably murdered by the NKVD in Lwów, in March 1940. He fought in several conflicts, including World War I and the Invasion of Poland. Jędrzejewsk ...

(Poland) TKO-1 **Defeated Obrad Sretenovic (Yugoslavia) KO-1 **Defeated

Günter Siegmund Günter Siegmund (19 December 1936 – 13 September 2020) was an East German heavyweight boxer who won the bronze medal in international competitions in both 1960 and 1961. He competed for the SC Dynamo Berlin / Sportvereinigung (SV ...

(United Team of Germany) PTS (4-1) **Lost to Franco De Piccoli (Italy) KO-2

Death

Bekker died on 18 October 2009 after a long struggle with

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

s.Ron Jackson
SA super amateur passes
Fightnews.com. Retrieved 23 October 2009.

References

External links

* 1932 births 2009 deaths People from Dordrecht, Eastern Cape Heavyweight boxers Deaths from Parkinson's disease in South Africa Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in South Africa Olympic boxers for South Africa Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for South Africa Olympic bronze medalists for South Africa Boxers from Pretoria Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Boxers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Afrikaner people South African male boxers Medallists at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games 20th-century South African sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing {{SouthAfrica-Olympic-medalist-stub