Bob Foster vs Tommy Loughran

Loughran boxes him and wins a decision. Obviously, if Foster can land a bomb or land consistently, he can turn things around, but he should lose a decision.

 

I don't think Foster was the type to try and walk through another guy anyway, but I think Loughran keeps him honest with his better wheels.

I think Foster has a chance to stop just about any LHW he catches clean, especially if he can connect consistently, but I think Loughran at his best doesn't let that happen.

 

Very hard stylistic fight for both...I'll have to peek at some youtube. I'll just say that if Foster's left jab lands with a bit of consistancy...then Bob is in business. Loughran will have to move, making Foster keep having to pick that front foot up and down, making Foster set and reset all fight long...Could have some differing viewpoints on who takes this...Whether you like the boxer, or the aggressor(?)

 

This is a clinic for Tommy, who had no kind of issues dealing with the towering likes of Impellittiere and Campolo. Loughran could take anybody of any stature to school. Aggression on Bob's part would need to rival that of Frazier, not a part of the Albuquerque product's makeup. Fans would be on the edge of their seats waiting for Bob to nail a big one, and still waiting when it was over.

Bob never demonstrated world class heavyweight power effectiveness, while guys like Rosenbloom and Loughran absolutely proved they were world class HW contenders when they moved up from 175. ATG poltergeists like these were just about the last competitors Bobby would want to see in the opposite corner, at LHW or HW. If Bob believes Zora Folley taught him how to box, what would he be thinking after the likes of Tommy and Maxie got through signing his commitment papers?:silly BF would need more than a Ouija board and seance medium in his corner to catch these blokes.

 

This is a tough one but I'll take Foster...At least for today. I don't think Tommy would have the same success against heavyweights if he were fighting in Bob's era. Let's be honest, Frazier and Ali are a completely different ball pf wax than Baer and Sharkey even though they are good HW's. Someone mentioned in an earlier post that if Foster got his jab working then he would be in business and I agree. If nothing else Foster has frightening power for his division while Loughran has very little. He relies on his legs and skills to keep him out of danger but at some point he'll have to get close to Foster to score points....That's when then fun starts.

 

BF should actually have been able to knock out Ray with relative ease. My point is that Bob's lesser height and reach advantages over Tommy would be so negligible as to not even merit mention. (For whatever it's worth, Carnera-Impellittiere has been on youtube occasionally, and while Primo had some early difficulty negotiating the taller man's jab, Loughran never had trouble dealing with Ray's long left, or the 6'9" Campolo's.) Bob would need to defeat Tommy with factors not connected to height and reach.

Let's exclude Ali and Frazier from this comparison, as both were top five ATG HWs (at least in my estimation).

Yes, I do believe Tommy at his best would have decisioned Terrell, Doug Jones, and Zora Folley. No, I cannot see Bob surviving against peak Jack Sharkey, Hamas, Braddock, Uzcudun, Tunney, or a number of other prominent HW contenders Loughran took on during his career. Bob NEVER proved he could compete successfully against even a small heavyweight contender of any consequence, while Tommy posted wins over no less than three HW Champions enshrined in the IBHOF (and drew with a fourth in Tunney). Bob's heavyweight resume isn't even in the same galaxy as Loughran's.

Big Boy Peterson was only six feet tall, but weighed 202, and had a 79 inch reach. Tommy took eight of the ten rounds from him. Loughran beat 202 pound 6'1" southpaw Jack Gross three times. Immediately after Tommy took his measure the final time, Gross snapped a ten match unbeaten streak by George Godfrey in LA, the only non DQ loss Godfrey sustained between June 1928 (Risko) and December 1932 (Walter Cobb II), a span of 42 bouts for the Leiperville Shadow. (George would then win his next 11 fights, and decision Tiger Jack Fox immediately after the loss to Cobb.)

 

Side note about Tommy's early bout with Greb is that he tried to box him from the outside and was clearly beat trying to jab him as Tunney was in their first go. Afterwards both Gene and Tommy said the key to beating Greb was to constantly go to his body which they both did to win decisions over him later.

Even in Bob's blow out against Rondon he didn't race toward him like Sharkey did in his ko of Tommy with one right hand. If Ray Anderson could slowly move around Foster for 15 rounds without being tagged much Tommy should have been able to do it and land enough punches to take a decision.

 

B-I-N-G-O!:good That's also a point I've made more than once over the years. Bob caught Mike Quarry coming in. To catch Loughran, Sharkey had to charge him (and Jack, like Hamas, failed to repeat his success when he faced Tommy again).

Watch Mike Quarry circle the ring perimeter over the first three rounds en route to the unanimous early lead over Bob (shutting him out 15-12 on two of the three official cards). Loughran would sustain that throughout the championship distance, and never make the mistake of coming in as Mike did at the end of round four with nearly fatal consequences.

Bob usually needed to be well planted in order to administer the sleeper. Tommy wouldn't allow him to get set as needed. Nailing Tommy meant going after him, and one had better have the striking speed of a peak Jack Sharkey to pull it off. Jack also abruptly rushed Loughran off-rhythm to pull off the surprise, while Bob was about as predictably rhythmic an ATG as the LHW division has produced.

 

:goodgood post