He is known by his chin, "ability" to take a punch... but let´s be honest, that gets you nowhere... we discuss so much guys like Galento here... how much (or little) skill did Cobb have ??
I was at this fight. Neither was in great shape. Randall had some pretty serious back problems around that time and that hampered him, and Neon Leon was just kind of coasting to find whatever paydays might be out there, staying active but really not on any trajectory. It was competitive, but it wasn’t pretty.
He was a lot more skilled than you may think. Watch the fight with Dokes and you can see some legitimate skill... He's no insane technician, but he was pretty good. Beat Shavers and Mercado, and deserved a decision over Norton as well. This content is protected
He wasn't at the bottom of HW challengers like Wepner, for skill. He's reasonably skilled in addition to being a tanky sort. Someone like Wepner actually pretty much did get there being shockingly technically poor and being known as a walking chin which helps guide blood off his head. Tex was pretty decent.
I don't know if it was before or after, but he also had an arm broken by a bat in a bar-fight and it never worked quite right again.
wasn't the most skilled and he wasn't the worst. beat some very good and lost to some very good as well. he was also an evil "immortal" who lost his head to "duncan macleod" in the series "highlander"! LOL! This content is protected
According to Larry Holmes, Tex was the most physically powerful person he ever boxed. Skill wise, his best punch was a pretty good tool to have in an arsenal, an extremely heavy and powerful left jab. In the rematch with Dokes, he swarmed all over Michael, who came in at an extremely muscular 226 pounds. Norton, at 217 pounds, had to exert himself strenuously, countering that jab and atypically fighting off the ropes. In his prime, Tex could raise hell with any HW not named Holmes. Cobb-Cooney was a near reality. Shavers proved that Randy was no more vulnerable to the body than he was with his steel chin. I just can't see Gerry winning a decision on the back foot, and Tex had vastly superior proved stamina.
He boxed like a kickboxer, not very efficiently, not great balance, a lot of arm punches and not a lot of power. But he was a big, strong dude with a shtload of dog in him and sometimes that's all you need.
