Mike Rossman 'Right Place/Right Time'

And Qawi beat the living **** out of Rossman. BRUTAL!

 

Good post. Galindez seemingly got more draws or split decisions than anyone I can recall. I don't know the amount, but I remember reading the boxing magazines and always seemed like Galindez got another close decision,

Anyway, I always thought Rossman was a tough guy, with a shyster manager in his step-father.

 

Rossman was deviously candid going into his challenge of Galindez that he was going to "go for the eyes." At the time, he was widely credited as having the best jab in the division. He fought a smart fight, and it paid off, something Victor was sporting enough to immediately acknowledge.

Mike's breaking his right hand in the rematch restored Galindez to the title as much as anything. If Victor had anything left in the tank following that, there would have been a rubber match. (It wasn't simply issues with making 175, as his career ending loss to Jesse Burnett proved. Too many wars had done him in.)

Ali delayed the resignation of his WBA Title as long as possible after regaining it from Leon Spinks, as he expressed the belief there were things he could do as a reigning champion which he might not be able to if he no longer held the crown. Ali-Rossman may well have allowed Muhammad to extend that third reign into 1980, and would provide a high profile and lucrative payday for both with relatively little damage for either.

 

Would the general public have accepted Rossman as a challenger?

 

While Rossman wasn't a great or anything, he was far from being "the worst champion of all time"..he was actually a pretty decent fighter who did what he had to do in the right way when the opportunity came along.

 

In the United States, the heavily hyped Rossman would have been most definitely accepted as a challenger, particularly with New York as the setting. His defense against Traversaro was the cover story for at least one major boxing publication, and there was some media generated buzz over the idea of Ali-Rossman immediately after their dual title wins in New Orleans, before the largest television audience in boxing history. In hindsight, it seems absurd to those not around at the time, or anybody who's forgotten that Rossman was invited to the White House for a very public Presidential reception. His aborted first scheduled rematch with Galindez was a huge story, as was the upset comeback loss to Ranquello.

Champion versus champion would have been an easy sell, and the curiosity over whether or not a reigning LHW could finally break through to the HW crown was heightened in light of the fact that Neon Leon was himself under 200 pounds. Mike had far more professional credibility than either Spinks or Evangelista when they challenged Ali. He was a compelling personality with an interesting story. This would have been the "easiest" defense Ali would not have been widely criticized for. The media was behind it, and it was a can't miss proposition for any network broadcasting it.

 

i've watched, read and boxed myself.i'm sticking by what i said.as a world chamo, rossman was poor

 

:goodi meant poor by champion standards.lopez would have taken him apart