Cobb is often given credit for his chin and toughness but is talked about as a poor boxer with very little skills. However, if you look at his resume, he was very competitive in almost every fight against top fighter he faced throughout his career. - was winning on points against (past prime) Shavers before stopping him in round 8; - lost to Ken Norton (past prime too) by SD; - lost to prime Michael Dokes by MD; - beat Bernardo Mercado by UD; - lost to Buster Douglas by MD; - lost to Michael Dokes again, this time by SD Only 2 of his fights that went distance weren't close - Eddie Gregg fight and, of course, Larry Holmes fight. But Larry Holmes was one of the greatest and most skilled heavyweights ever on the top of his game, and even years later, at 42, he clearly outboxed top 5 opponent in Ray Mercer. So, does Cobbs performances against top 10 opponents not named Larry Holmes prove he wasn't as poorly skilled as advertised, in your opinion?
I mean just because he wasn't a fundamentally skilled boxer per say doesn't mean he wasn't an effective fighter. He had some great assets to fall back on.
Sometimes toughness is all you need in this game and can take you a long way, he's cut from that cloth.
Most argue that he beat Norton, and the first fight with Dokes was also highly competitive. He wasn't unskilled as much as he was simply outclassed by other top talent at heavyweight. Shavers, Mercado, and Kenny are not bad scalps.
People confuse a fighter using their intangibles to make themselves effective with having actual skill/ring IQ. George Chuvalo wasn't a particularly skilled boxer, nor a very smart one, but he used his assets to remain competitive with so many great boxers. His focus on body shots helped to deplete their stamina. He took advantage of his own high stamina to keep up a busy work rate trying to force opponents to fight at his pace. He took advantage of his granite chin by making himself even more durable tucking his chin and blocking with his forehead when under fire. None of these things would qualify as "skills" in the same vein as knowing how to throw a pull counter, parrying, slipping a punch, etc, but they were all useful, albeit crude, for making Chuvalo a more effective boxer in the ring.
Well, watch him and then Wepner. You will realize there are levels to the lot of supposedly unskilled boxers. Not you, but whoever thinks Cobb is so poor. I mean, they both have to rely on being big, durable guys but one is significantly more skilled than the other.
Tex could fight. He had a helluva chin and apparently could bang as well, because he broke Earnie Shaver's jaw. Funny guy also.
