ALI, '4' The Easy Way!

Yep. Bobick did look bad in there with Johnson. I kind of gave him a little pass on that because not everyone has their A game every night. At the same time, it sure was apparent though that Bobick had to have his A game only, if he started facing better competition.

There were also stories about him from Frazier's gym back then that the guy was not all they were hyping him to be. If a guy had flaws, the Frazier gym is going to magnify them, during that timeframe.

Wepner was not a good fight either. But the ali camp should've just sat out and negotiated a deal that froze out Young/Norton/Foreman and taken on Bobick. The fight would've sold and it was not going to be a tough physical matchup for Muhammad.

 

I confess.

I actually went to a Bobick fight way back then. Ned Edwards. After the bout I was lingering about and met Edwards. The less said the better.

Most people don't like to critique Eddie, but a lot of the Bobick career development goes to that Futch touch of matchmaking, regarding Duane. He loves that strength vs. weaknesses thing. The fly in the ointment is they do not face certain types. They are avoided and sometimes not prepared when they do have to face a certain style. In the case of Bobick--no punchers or slick boxers. Then they move up and get in the big sweepstakes and now they face a hitter. Duane had zero experience with a hitter like Norton since the Stevenson disaster. That's where those Philly gym stories came about--hitters and outboxed.

Later on Eddie took Duane on the road to the other guy's backyard & took on Knoetze. Why? For a strength vs weakness guy why take on that guy & Duane got in there and tried his mauling tactic against a former rugby guy. It did not work whatsoever 20 seconds into the bout.

I just don't know. If you look at Bobick in that 77 timeframe and look at potential opponents, there are quite a few you would not like his chances against, including Norton.

Young?
Foreman?
Shavers?

ok, a Holmes rematch ?
Bugner?
Lyle?

Who?
Stan Ward might've been too much. Or a Dino Dennis even.

It was a tightrope act for sure and I guess I'm saying my money was on the guy falling off that tightrope and never ever getting to the other side.

 

Futch knew Norton best and probably thought he might fold under Bobick's attack. Instead he was beaten brutally in an outcome that no one really saw coming as both were slow starters throughout their careers.

His management did well enough to build Bobick's record up to 38-0 and get him a top 5 ranking despite all his faults. Their only mistake was putting him against Norton, instead of pushing for a title fight even without any wins over ranked contenders as he would have been made to look better by Ali. Perhaps they mistakenly thought that Bobick truly "had it". It was a good fight for the fans though as they did not have to suffer through a bout between Ali and Bobick.

 

Well a lot of people did see the ko coming for Norton and a lot of people were backing him. The folks picking Bobick seemed to me anyway, picking Eddie and his reputation to beat Norton.

Me, I sure didn't buy into that and had a lot of $$ on Norton and thought it was pretty much free money. That's the beauty of gambling and the sport does provide opportunities from time to time.

 

A Norton KO was a very possible outcome but a first round knockout? That was about the only 1st round KO Norton ever had.

 

No not first round, but here was my thinking. Those Norton body shots were going to soften Bobick up. I did not think he was in the best shape--no where near Norton's conditioning--and I sure didn't think he was the guy to handle a sustained body attack.

Bobick was also open for right hands. Always. I thought Kenny would land those hard right hands to the kidney and ribs and Bobick would drop his hands and Norton would come over the top with that looping shot of his and catch him. That and Duane was not a big enough hitter to prevent Norton from going forwards.

And the key to that crossarmed defense is a left hook and they are wide open for it. that was a punch Bobick sometimes threw, but it just did not have that kind of sizzle.

 

I don't think Bobick had the energy level of Leon Spinks. We can say what we want about Leon, but nobody ever had to tell him to throw combos. I don't think Bobick was ever in that kind of shape to pull that off for 15 rounds against Ali.

And lets face it, you'd better win about 11 rounds cleanly to win a split decision over Muhammad back then. Look how close that Spinks scorecard was and I thought he won by a mile. And Ali just had to do his shuffle and throw flashy combos on the outside for the final 30 seconds of a round & he'd get the nod on the scorecards. I don't think Bobick has the footwork and mobility to catch him when he goes to that at the end f the rounds and Ali is a master pulling it off.

But the bout would've seen the stock price of Bobick gone up. Even in defeat he would've put forth a good enough effort to secure a few more big paydays.

It sure is a tough sport and so often we see careers unfold one way at a crucial fork in the road and we can imagine things turning out better just having the ability to have takenh that other path.

 

Don't knock Coopman,my friend. He was a legend in his own bathroom !

 

So, what impressed you most about Coopman to put him ahead of a man who defeated him twice in his own country (once by a huge margin)? :yep

 

I've read those Futch he wasn't warmed up and it's my fault statements from Futch post fight, of course. Just what was his trainer doing more important than getting his guy ready anyway? interviews? Cancel them. You are paid to get that guy ready that night in front of a big stage against by far the best fighter he ever fought. What's more important than that? And Bobick can certainly warm up by himself & not being adequately prepared pre-fight is definately a preventable occurance.


He may have taken the Wells punches, but I think the sustained 2 handed body punching of Norton is a whole different thing. Lots of guys have good whiskers but through the years who better than Ali absorbed body shots? 2nd place isn't close. I don't think Duane absorbs to the breadbasket well and drops those hands and gets some alligator arms after about 5 rounds. But Norton was an opponent that didn't stop there.

We have not seen a better heavyweight at body punching since Norton. He must've thrown 50% of his punches to the breadbasket. All hard punches too. And with both hands. Plus, he had the oddball effective jab of his that could trouble guys.

You are right about Bobick freezing when hit. Some guys do. He did the same thing later against Knoetze and Tate. He did it in the olympics against Stevenson. It's a trait and not a habit or it was a habit--and everyone has habits--he just couldn't break. As such, it was a weakness in his game and was something always there. Just like the Norton footwork. A weakness to exploit.