1970 Bobby Foster VS 1988 Mikey Spinks

The 1970 Foster was better than the 1988 version of Spinks. Would have been a good fight,but Foster stops Mike late in the fight.

 

Judging by the '87 Cooney fight, i'll take Spinks by KO using his blistering combinations. Indeed Gerry Cooney was Past-Prime, but he was still a considerably bigger, more powerful & more durable Heavyweight than Bob Foster, plus he was actually a Heavyweight at 238lbs, a whole 50lbs more than 188lbs Foster. The Ali fight showed Foster had a very fragile chin at Heavyweight, when he was dropped four times.

 

Foster was great with his left hook, but Spinks all around made the transition to heavyweight. Something Foster never did.

 

The truth is that Bob never even defeated a heavyweight the caliber of Tangstad (who drew with Douglas, and beat Bugner, Lucien Rodriguez and Evangelista). 1988 Jinx wasn't quite the same caliber he was from 1985 to 1987, was coming off a layoff of more than a year for Tyson, and Tyson, one of the fastest starters in HW history, made one of the slowest starting ATGs ever pay for that slow start by icing him. However, Bob was not the same kind of fast starter Tyson was, and would allow Michael to get out of the gate and warm up first.

I do wonder a bit how Bob might have done against Ali or Frazier if he'd had the services of a Mackie Shilstone to help him gain weight, but still not sure if such a regimen improves Bob's chin. He was actually dropped seven times by Ali before getting counted out, the most knockdowns anybody ever suffered against the GOAT. (And he was usually decked as the result of singular punches. Ali was even flooring Bob with left hooks, hardly Muhammad's most potent weapon.) His power could seem to disappear almost completely against even a smallish HW contender like Doug Jones. Despite his best efforts, Bob's weight never reached 190, while Michael scaled 212 for Tyson. Bob was 180 for Ali. Over 30 pounds is simply too much to give away to somebody with Michael's skills and abilities.

Bob got into round two with Frazier in part because Joe was coming off a nine month broken ankle enforced layoff. Put the Smoke of Zyglewicz in there, and Bob doesn't last a minute.

Michael had the lateral mobility possessed by Mike Quarry, combined with height, reach and power MQ could only dream of. I think he'd stay away from Bob to open, moving laterally until he got warmed up, then God help Bob. Marvin Johnson, Qawi and Mustafa Muhammad had huge LHW power which didn't trouble Michael in the slightest.

 

If Foster had the same weight building benefits as Spinks did,he'd,have maybe,lasted a few more rounds with Ali and Frazier,but he'd still have got knocked out.

 

Stevie, that's pretty much how I see it. When Bob says he'd have knocked both out if he could only have weighed a couple more pounds, he comes across as hilariously delusional.

Concerning Spinks, we could still suggest that Tyson simply caught him cold, that what happened between them was not a true indicator of Michael's punch resistance when warmed up. (Still, it always baffles me how an amateur champion like Michael, Duane Bobick or Palomino could morph into a slow starter as a professional.) Holmes, Tangstad, Cooney, Marvin Johnson, Mustapha Muhammad and Yaqui Lopez were never able to put him on the floor. And when Tyson did it the first time, it was with a body shot, no reflection on Michael's chin.

Bob was dropped at least 13 times in his career. (For certain, DePaula 1X, Frazier 2X, Ali 7X, Doug Jones 1X, Terrell 1X, and Vick 1X. I'm willing to throw out DePaula along with the blown call referee ruled knockdown Michael took against Qawi.) He was staggering badly at the end of Terrell and Jones.

When Bob took on Frazier and Ali, he was coming off huge title defense wins, against Tessman and Finnegan respectively, rare occasions where he got extended and had an opportunity to sharpen his edge in protracted competition. In a recent thread, Tessman and Finnegan were two popular answers to the question asking what his greatest defense was. Bob was as well tuned and prepared for Frazier and Ali as he could have been, and still lost badly. It's about as extreme a contrast with how Michael did against Holmes and Cooney as there could be.

 

Foster

 

I'll take Foster at Lt. Heavy.
Gregory was a better fighter than Spinks. Michael would have never
beat him if Eddie wasn't a nut-case at the time.

Now prime Eddie (with his head on straight) and prime Bobby is
a separate thread...but, to be honest, I'm doing a 'what if' argument
with Gregory and that's probably not fair...

 

I fully agree than an in shape and properly prepared Eddie is a very different proposition than the weight drained and diminished champion who got himself dethroned. However, Eddie was also a much better defensive fighter than Bob.

Also, Bob kept his right foot in the bucket, severely compromising his mobility, as Jack Palance (a former boxer himself) noted early during Foster's defense against Mike Quarry.

How does Bob beat Michael? By decision? Spinks can outmaneuver him for 15 rounds if need be. He conclusively boxed his way to a clear UD over one of the greatest stylistic nightmares the LHW division ever produced in Qawi.

By knockout? I don't recall any LHW so much as causing Michael's knees to dip for even an instant, Mustafa Muhammad and Marvin Johnson (who was the first to put the steel chinned Galindez on the floor) among them. Bob has height and reach on Michael, but so did Cooney and Holmes. Michael wouldn't have an issue dealing with Bob's stature. Vonzell Johnson was 6'4" and getting outscored cleanly when the end suddenly came (because Vonzell stupidly stepped back from a clinch with his guard down).

 

this

 

Bobby-Mikey?atsch

 

There are way too many votes for Foster.

Bob Foster was a very mediocre heavyweight by any standards.

Who exactly did he ever beat at heavyweight? :huh

 

Well, Foster did use Bobby early in his career, and you can even see "Bobby" stitched on the back of his robe during introductions for Terrell-Foster. (Still, as Bob was already 26 years old for Terrell, it seems a little juvenile, too Mickey Mouse Club, and Don Dunphy sticks to calling him "Bob" both against Jones and Terrell despite the "Bobby" introductions and robe art.) But "Mikey?" Has any prizefighter ever used this? If I was MR. BILL, I'd sue Foreman Hook for breach of copyright on the thread title.

 

Spinks. Better heavyweight, and Bob Foster has nothing near a Qawi/Muhammad/Johnson etc on his LHW resume.