Duane Bobbick vs Tommy Morrison

That crossed my mind. But I can only take fighters as I seen them.

Bobick definitely looked like a guy who never discovered strength training of any sort. But so did Gerrie Cooney and he did alright (could have done a lot better with his natural talent).

 

(cough) Michael Bentt (cough).

 

I always considered Mike Weaver sort of a puncher. Bobick stopped him in 1974. Bobick also beat Teofilo Stevenson in 1971 and Larry Holmes (as amateurs) in 1972.

Bobick also fought Yuri Nesterov of the USSR in a fight that most thought would be the gold medal match, but the draw found them fighting each other earlier than the finals. Bobick won, but suffered an injured eye. He entered the Stevenson fight in the Olympics with the bad eye - and it was the last event that took place before the Games were stopped because terrorists had already taken over the dorm at the Olympic Village. I could see how Bobick could be distracted, as he'd already beaten his main rival and was facing a guy he had already beaten in the Pan Am Games ... and athletes were being kidnapped and held hostage where he was staying ... and all that.

Bobick's problem was he was a sucker for an overhand right. But people didn't figure that out until well into his pro career. The big overhand right wasn't what Morrison was known for. It was the left hook. Bobick was also a very good puncher in his own right.

Pretty much a pick-em fight to me.

 

They are still better than michael bentt, Old Tillis, Ancient Pinklon thomas, 44 years old Foreman Foreman,past it Carl Williams, Joe Hipp and Ruddock......Although none of them were better than Lewis.
But Louis could fight only who was available during his time. OK Ezzard was not a heavyweight, but the fact that a natural middleweight like him managed to become an undisputed HEAVYWEIGHT champion of the world shows how GREAT he was. Carnera was not a great boxer, but he was a huge puncher who was one the 23 heavyweights to win the undisputed title, and Marciano? C'mon , he might not be the unbeatable legend everybody makes him out to be due to his undefeated record, but he certainly was more than a third rate bum.
You may as well say that generationally great fighters like conn and walcott were bums so we stop here

 

Totally Agree!

 

Good points as usual Dubble. I hadn't forgotten that Duane had a win over Weaver but that was in Mike's early ham and egg days. I think his record was 50/50 at the time and he was still working for a living.

 

Which was his biggest win. His next biggest win? Scott LeDoux? Tom Prater?
It's a terribly, terribly thin resume, worse than Morrison's by far.

 

Who was the South African he beat after he lost to Knoetze ? Mike something or other.
To be fair to Bobick, LeDoux was going well when Duane beat him.
I was just talking to @Dubblechin about Bobick's win over Mike Weaver.

 

Bobick was the better amateur by far. Morrison was the more successful pro, definitely.

But beating Teofilo Stevenson and Larry Holmes isn't something to scoff at. Those guys didn't lose much in the 1970s. Bobick did it, albeit as an amateur. Morrison lost to all the same guys as an amateur who beat him as a pro - Mercer, Bentt, etc.

And Bobick was good enough that Joe Frazier signed to be his manager and Eddie Futch trained him. They had high hopes for him. And Ali was looking at Bobick as a possible opponent for years.

To me, Bobick always looked better as an amateur. I don't know much about his personal life other than his brother, Rodney Bobick (who was also a fighter and one of Ali's chief sparring partners), was killed in a car accident right after the Bobick-Norton fight. Maybe they were big drinkers. Who knows.

Then again, Morrison was a big drinker, too.

If Morrison had a big overhand right, I'd take him in a minute. But he was more a left-hooker. And Morrison had terrible endurance. He was usually gasping for air after three rounds. Bobick's endurance was fine.

It's a toss-up to me.

 

Mike Schutte. He was a brute. (LOL) If you ever get a chance to watch the first Schutte-Coetzee fight, do. That was a street fight. They were kicking and backhanding ... more fouls than legal blows. (LOL)

 

Was that the famous grudge match ? I read something about that years ago.
Right. That's my task for the week. Have a gander at that.

 

Not that this has to do with anything, but I liked pro wrestling when I was younger in the 1970s and 80s.

And when Bobick turned pro, there was a bidding war for him.

Verne Gagne, who ran/owned the AWA, tried to sign Bobick as a pro wrestler. I found a bunch of articles on it. Gagne had signed two members of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, Ken Patera (who was a weightlifter) and Chris Taylor (who was a wrestler) and he tried very hard to get Bobick, too. Offered him millions that I don't think the AWA had, which is probably why Bobick didn't sign.

But that was wild. Ken Patera ended up going to Vince McMahon and fighting Bruno Sammartino for that belt at Madison Square Garden around the same time Bobick fought Norton at MSG.

Fighting Bruno probably would've been easier. (LOL)

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Fair enough. I know Duane was a star amateur, so he had ability. For whatever reason it didn't translate to the pro ranks.
I've got nothing against Bobick, but he just didn't do enough in the paid ranks for me.