INteresting Article: Bob Foster laughs off Monzon at 175

I can imagine. But Bob Foster came to Denmark and lost to Mustapha Wasaja. atsch

 

Yeah... When he was 40.

I wonder what Bogs would have looked like in 1978, oh wait he had been retired 4 years after osing to Tom Bethea...

 

In 1978, Tom Bogs would´ve have broken the poor fellas neck.
But Tom Bogs allways said he would retire when 30. His last fight against Bethea was on his birthday 24.11.1974.
Tom Bethea was one of the best journeymen who has ever entered a boxing ring. At his best he was world-class. He lost to Carlos Monzon on a splitdecision in Buenes Aires in 1969 and TKOéd MWchampion Nino Benvenuti in 8 in a non-title in 1970.
At his worst he got stopped by unknown youngsters.
On 24th of novembre 1974 Tom Bethea entered the ring at his best. He had worked as a sparring partner for John Conteh and looked strong at the weight - the fight was at lightheavyweight. Tom Bogs lost - every round a slugfest - Tom Bogs was brave, stubborn and determined to give his fans a grand finale. And it was.
Three years later, Tom Bethea was back in Copenhagen versus Mustafa Wasaja, an unknown youngster. He lasted the distance but he was out of shape and the fight was nothing but a sparring session.
Tom Bogs had many offers to return. In 1978 - at the age of 34 - he ran marathons, lifted weights - but had´nt been in a gymn since 4 years back.
And Bob Foster, out of retirement, looking for an easy warm-up before a possible huge payday against WC John Conteh in London was lured to Copenhagen to face the unknown youngster, Mustafa Wasaja.
Tom Bogs was invited to attend the fight from ringside. He did´nt want to. In stead he and his pals Sven-Omar Hermansen and Hans J. Jakobsen (former heavyweights) met at Hviids Vinstue, a famous bar in Copenhagen, looking for ladies - or ladies looking for Tom Bogs.
Tom Bogs, in his best shape, 34 years old had no more need or desire for hurting or getting hurt. No desire for money or glory, Tom Bogs could not be lured in to enter a boxing ring again.
Same evening Bob Foster sat on his corner stool after the 4th round with no desire for getting hurt, did´nt want more, claiming his right hand was broken.
Yeah man, the record books only show one side of the matter.
Sure, Tom Bogs lost to Tom Bethea.
But in 1978 - Tom Bogs was still a winner.

 

Maybe Monzon didn't think he would do well moving up, either? He stayed at 160 and fought the weight for years and years. I realize that changing weight classes wasn't considered mandatory then as it is now, but it was far from infrequent.

 

:thumbsupVery interesting article to say the least, definitely a treasure in a sports vault. Thanks He-Grant!

 

Agreed.I think Foster might have beat Monzon,much like Monzon himself beat Napoles,a great fighter himself.Conteh,Marvin Johnson,Galindez,Eddie Gregory,Quawi,Yaqui.Dont think Carlos wins many medals with that lot.

 

Thanks for that jowcol.Always interesting to hear from somebody who saw it live,and not on youtube!!!I think the Foster who drew with Ahumada would have lost to Conteh,who was a hungry fighter then.A prime Foster might have been a different story altogether.For me he was just behind Archie Moore and Harold Johnson,in that order.I saw Conteh before he became champion,beating a decent heavyweight in Les Stevens,and he was pure class,one of our best.As a matter of interest,though only on black and white TV,Tom Bethea getting knocked out by a middleweight from Lancashire,Phil Matthews.

 

Great stuff from a Danish perspective,Claus.Especially from someone who was around at the time.Didnt see much of Bogs,but he was some fighter.I believe he put John Conteh down.Jealous as hell though.Got an image of him being pestered by a bevy of blonde Danish beauties with a Tuborg in his hand!!

 

I remember Matthews knocking Bethea out. Bethea had came over and beat a few of our fighters so it was a bit of a shock.
Big things were expected of Matthews after that but he was stopped in 5 rounds against Bunny Sterling for the British Title from a body shot and his heart was questioned.
His career seemed to fizzle out after that.

 

Yep,remembered that also.I think he had previously been in the Royal Navy.I once worked with a couple of lads from where he lived and they told me he liked his lotion.Maybe thats one reason he didn't why he didn't realise his potential.Dont really know.But Bunny Sterling was a really good fighter,as,obviously was Bethea.

 

this has absolutely nothing to do with your original post or my response. Nogs was a typical big fish in a small pond that benefitted from a padded record and friendly officiating. If you think trying to take some imaginary moral high road that Bogs ended his xareer on a higher note because he hung them up when he realized he was through in any refutes what im saying it doesnt. You might as well argue that Brian Nielson or Allen Vester had legitimately glossy records, which would indicate you, like the fans of Bog, Vester, and Nielson would rather blissfully live in a fantasy world were these fighters were legitimate world title threats. The bottom line is, and i stand by it, Monzon wanted no part of Foster, and a fight between Bogs and Foster would have ended in Bogs head being deposited somewhere in the 12th to 15th row.

 

Holy cow ! You look at the matter from a very one-sided perspective.
I doubt You´ve ever seen Tom Bogs perform - but still in Your imagination You fantasizes him being awarded wins he never deserved.
In reality - how many Danes do You know - who´ll claim that Brian Nielsen and Allan Vester were World Title Threats ?

Your arrogance/ignorence does not change the fact that world class boxing has been and still is performed on the other side of the big pond.

I must remind You that it was You who asked how Tom Bogs would look at 34:
a fight between the 40-year old ghost of Foster and a the 34-year Young Tom Bogs would´ve have ended with Bogs breaking the poor fellas neck.

My bottom line is, same as Yours, Monzon wanted no part of Foster.

 

Bogs never saw the day he could have beaten Foster. Even an aged Foster. They were on two completely different stratospheres. Any argument otherwise is pure fantasy. And for the record Id wager Ive seen as much of Bogs as you and far more than the majority of boxing fans alive today which is allows me to assess his ability rather than pretend he was a good opponent for Monzon much less Foster. FFS im rolling my eyes even writing this its so ludicrous.

Lets put this in perspective. Bogs, in his prime, got a gift draw against the always mediocre Don Fullmer who was fighting above his best weight and was now shot. Bogs did nothing in that fight. He got hammered two fights later against Griffith, also fighting above his best weight and past his prime, and then got a criminal gift decision against a still developing Chris Finnegan (typical Danish officiating 11 rounds even!) you know the same Chris Finnegan that in his prime was knocked out by a 34 year old Foster. Years later Bogs retired after losing to a fighter with a 50/50 record (but you want us to believe he did so out of some predetermined choice, not because he was no longer a world class fighter at 30), but you expect me to accept that somehow he could have come out of retirement four years later and somehow have improved over his previous performance(s). If Bogs EVER defeated a legitimate top ten contender (not some upper echelon european that Nat Fleischer ranked to sell magazines on the international market) it was someone from the bottom tier of the ten and he could never even do that with consistency. No way does Bogs A. EVER beat Monzon. B. Do better against Monzon than Foster does C. Ever beat Foster. Or D. Be competetive with Foster. I wish we could go back in time and make that match because Id bet you my house on it and Id win.

 

Ho ho, all the writing does not hide the fact that this man has never seen Tom Bogs fight. I never saw him in live action. But I have seen close to all the films from his fights that exists. What i see is,
that Tom Bogs at his best was a worldclass boxer. At his worst he could be outboxed or knocked out by Monzon.
The Finnegan-fight is a high-level slugfest between two boxers not giving an inch away. The scorecard can not change anything. Bogs wins and Finnegan is disappointed. But the announcement of 9 rounds even is as shocking to the Danish corner as it is to the English corner. But as always it is the loser who makes noice about it afterwards. And as always the myth is better than the thruth.
The reports from Bob Fosters loss to Wasaja does not give me a picture of a man who is able defend himself in a boxing ring. Foster was stunned by the first jab Wasaja threw and he did´nt want to get involved in any punching after that. Foster lost half his purse because of his non-boxing. I think Klompdum should acknowledge that for a fact in stead of keep on claiming that Foster was still competetive at 40.

 

Ive never seen him fight?

Bogs/Fourie
Boggs/Fullmer 1
Bogs, Tom: Hall of Fame
Bogs/Conteh
Bogs/Duran 1
Bogs/Duran 2
Bogs/Griffith
Bogs/Monzon
Bogs/Monzon Alternate angle
Bogs/Stengel

I have all of those fights and the only one he did anything was knocking out Stengel. Im sure its just a coincidence that the only fight above he looked good in was when he knocked out the worst and least accomplished fighter on the list...

You can talk about how bad Foster was in 1978 but its doesnt change the fact that he was still fighting and Bogs had been retired four years after losing to a journeyman with a 50/50. I'll take an active, faded former great over an inactive, faded, former euro stiff any day of the week in betting odds.