When great welterweights are discussed, Curtis Cokes rarely gets a mention. Just wondering why that is. He was world champion for over 2 and half years between 1966 and 1969, beat Luis Rodriguez by TKO to get his title shot and defended the title he won four times before meeting Jose Napoles. He had a pleasing style and seemed to have good boxing fundamentals, he just had the misfortune of running into a greater fighter in Napoles. Anyone feel he warrants a bit more attention?
He's underrated, alright. Not sure if he's THE most underrated Welter, but you're on the money when you say he deserves more recognition than he gets. By 1961, he'd proved he was at least in the same ballpark as Rodriguez by splitting those first two fights with him, and he'd beaten Gonzalez a few times over - yet both of them got title shots at 147 lb before him over the coming years. I guess you could argue that both Rodriguez and Gonzalez were a little more consistent than Cokes outside of those fights while they were all waiting for their shots. Cokes probably took his eye off the ball in dropping a couple of decisions here and there while he waited for his big break, which might have added to his disillusion which saw him temporarily retire 1964-65. Also, Griffith generally defended against excellent competition during his reigns at Welter, so it's hard to accuse him of avoiding Cokes...Nevertheless, Cokes is the only seriously quality Welter missing from Griffith's title record, and it would have been interesting to see how that one went down. I believe Gil Clancy, while obviously more closely linked with Griffith, also seconded Cokes a few times - perhaps this was part of the reason why a match between them never got made? Let's not forget, Cokes beat both Rodriguez and Gonzalez again once he'd finally made it to title eliminators / shots, so safe to say that he could / would have been champion a little earlier if he'd had a bit more luck. As you guys have said - that nature of his losses to Napoles, particularly the first one when he was defending champion, harm his standing a little. But they shouldn't. A 1969 Napoles was just about as close to perfection as the Welterweight division has ever seen, along with the two Sugar Rays in their absolute primes. But even I have to admit that it was only after seeing Napoles' absolute masterclass against Cokes that I made a real effort to delve properly in to Cokes' record and watch a bit more film of him. Before that, I'd just had him pegged as a good, solid Welter operator who would be a decent gatekeeper in any era. But as I now know, he was much better than that. Known mostly for his losses, which is a shame. Cracking fighter.
Great stuff, Chris. I did the same as you - I overlooked him and thought of him as more of a belt holder between the likes of Griffith and Napoles, both all-time great welterweight champions.
Maybe the only man from Dallas I don’t hate. Definitely under appreciated today. This content is protected
Highlights This content is protected Thrilling fight with Kitten Hayward This content is protected TKO over Luddick This content is protected
I didn’t get to see Hayward in his prime, just a couple of times in the mid 70’s. One of my pop pops favorites though. I would have loved to see him in his prime years.
Cokes was superb. Modernists hate the phrase but he really was "old school". Simply watch the man fight. He was a superb technician and brilliant counter puncher. Even in exchanges he was hard to hit and how well did he time those counters? On top of this he had heaps of right hand power and was a very very dedicated trainer. He'd miss the odd punch on purpose to position a guys head where he wanted it and was excellent at feinting the jab. He knew boxing inside out and actually wrote a renowned book on it. I remember in the early 80's he was doing a lot of work with high level amateurs. He trained Reggie Johnson for a huge chunk of his early career too. Possibly most important is that he was training one of ESB's favorites in Ike Ibeabuchi!
Damn! Looks like a sweet boxer. Like his style. Cokes stands in the pocket slips and counters. he looks like a guy that would Master today's welterweight class and that's coming from someone that has a lot of respect for Spence and these other boxers today.
Totally agree. Cokes really knew how to box. He wrote a book on it. In interviews he has stated that most guys today just fight, they don't box and have PHD's in boxing. I agree. Look at him turning left then turning right avoiding punches, countering etc. The guy can flat out box.
Cokes was really fun to watch. Perfectly drilled boxing fundamentals, with some of the straightest and most accurate punching you'll see. He caught guys in anticipation of where they would be so well. Highlight I made of him set to James Brown. This content is protected
