Tommy Loughran vs Bob Foster at 175

Who wins and how?

[teeto]

The consenus on here has always been that Loughran takes it, from the way i remember it anyway.

Suppose i'd pick him as well, Foster can move laterally, but at 175, he really does like to walk forward, sort of hiding behind his shoulder and just letting bombs go,a fighter with the look for a ko. Loughran, the way he was like a matador against come forward guys, feeding them ramrod jabs for their aggressive efforts, might sway me.

Very hard to say either way, as much as people knock Foster's resume at the weight, he was clearly a force to be reckoned with, that's an understatement actually.

[MRBILL]

Foster too good and powerful for Loughran.............. I know a lotta' old farts will come screaming that Thomas Loughran was the greatest 175 pounder to ever lace up the gloves, but that's a buncha' bollocks..... Foster and Mikey Spinks are my top dogs ever at 175, with Ol' Archie Moore right there in the mix too as champions......... Ol' Buzzard Charles and Floyd Patterson were great guys, but they chose to move up and win a title or two at Heavyweight.........

MR.BILL

[red cobra]

Well, if Pierre Fourie could last the distance of 15 twice with Foster, I'd say that the infinitely superior defensively and rin generalship Loughran would have beaten Foster on points. Bear in mind also I have no grudge against Foster, nor do I take him cheaply, in fact, I place him in the top 5 of alltime great lightheavies, but in boxing, as you know by now, styles make fights, and Loughran was used to fighting heavyweights. You might say that Jones, who beat Ruiz, could have beaten Foster for the same reason, but you'd need to be remindd that Jones' chin of china would have given him away against Foster, whereas he had no wories of that happening against Ruiz. Loughran was chinwise let's just say "sturdier", and was a purist enough classic boxer with a sort of "Tunney-like" discipline to be able to pull off an upset of Foster.

[WhataRock]

I think thats a weak argument red.

Foster took on Fourie when he was in his mid 30's and after his last devastating foray into the heavyweight division.

I think if you are going to use those fights then you could also use the fights where Tommy was clearly and at times badly beaten by guys far inferior to Bob...when he was barely 30.


Bob impressed me more on film...buts Tommy's record is just awesome..there is really no other way to put it.
I also think his style gives Bob trouble...but Im not sure it gives Bob anymore trouble then Bob's give him.

[red cobra]

I find it hard to argue against someone with so great an avatar. Seriously, I agree that Foster was like an alien species of Preying Mantis, who terrified the lightheavies of his time, and would have scared the shit out of those in these times as well. What he woulsd have done to Roy Jones would have been spectacular, if Tarver and Johnson could do what they did, well,,,,,,as for Loughran, I know my call is a bit controversial, and who knows, it's all specualtion.

[TheGreatA]

Ray Anderson did go the distance with a prime Bob Foster in one of his title defenses. He wasn't one of the toughest fighters but he could defend himself.

Loughran despite being durable was not impossible to stop however and he would be facing 3-4 inch disadvantages in height and 6-7 in reach. Foster was also much faster than most of the heavyweights Loughran fought.

[Flea Man]

STOP DEBATING!!!!


This is one of the first round fights from my LHW tourney!!!!!!!!!!

[red cobra]

Loughran W12 Foster. Had to come down in favor of Loughran..he was a purist classic boxer with no interest in planting himself in front of Foster for any foolishness like trading punches or for some pie in the sky "lets see if I get lucky with a big punch" crap. He would have been mobile the entire time and compared to his fight with Carnera, Foster's size advantage wouldn't trouble him at all.

Originally Posted by MRBILL

Foster too good and powerful for Loughran.............. I know a lotta' old farts will come screaming that Thomas Loughran was the greatest 175 pounder to ever lace up the gloves, but that's a buncha' bollocks..... Foster and Mikey Spinks are my top dogs ever at 175, with Ol' Archie Moore right there in the mix too as champions......... Ol' Buzzard Charles and Floyd Patterson were great guys, but they chose to move up and win a title or two at Heavyweight.........

MR.BILL

lets not forget mathew sadd muhammed one of the hardest men to ever put on a pair of boxing gloves and a great champion

[abraq]

A difficult pick. Most people would have Bob Foster within the top 3 in any all time LHW list. But Tommy Loughran was a great fighter in his own right. He has such a great record. Against 117 wins and 14 draws he suffered 29 losses. But only 3 of those losses were by ko's or tko's.

Now, Foster's best chance is to stop Loughran, not outpoint him. He has the advantages in height, reach and power. Foster did move but I think that against a boxer like Loughran, his footwork would be found wanting. Yet, hardly any LHW managed to last the full distance against a peak Foster aside from Ray Anderson.

Loughran repeatedly lost to Harry Greb and once or twice to some others but then also Foster lost to Mauro Mina (maybe he was a little raw).

Considering all things, I would lean towards Bob Foster stopping Tom Loughran somewhere in the late middle rounds. But Tommy Loughran decisioning Bob Foster is certainly not outside the realms of possibility.

[janitor]

I think that this fight could be more exciting than people might think.

Despite his limited punching power Tommy Loughran was happy to go to war with punchers and slug with them when he was behind on points.

The fights that would give us the best models for this are the Jimmy Braddock fight and the Leo Lomski fight.

[Flea Man]

Does everyone want to post on the thread that requires this analysis? Monzon I'd appreciate your opinions on my thread too, want a 'concensous vote'