can anyone add to whats here.....fascinating reading this all makes... http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Herbert_(Doc)_Odom check the dates of his seven fight pro record... http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=97579&cat=boxer obvious question is why was he away from boxing so long between fights 1 and 2
Little to add to what's already been uncovered. Had a long sleek musculature which belied his years, and was probably on the tall side for his weight, although I can't find a record of his listed height. Witnesses said he had knockout power in both hands. Also an amateur poet. Obviously, Doc O had no need to box with degrees in hand between 1955 and 1979. The surprise for me is that he actually competed professionally in 1956, something of a shock considering how strenuously college coaches typically abhorred and discouraged punching for pay. Noteworthy that he was a product of the same collegiate boxing power which produced Chuck Davey.
This was a blurb with a photograph of a disrobed Odom heading through the crowd in one of my boxing magazines. (At the time, I thought his physique reminded me of SRR's a bit.) It's been years since I read it and saw the accompanying picture, and I'm not sure I even have that issue in my possession now, but I believe it might have said he had three fights, or won three straight at that point, which would probably date that report to the spring or summer of 1980. (Interesting that he would then not return to action again until July 1982.) It did mention that sparring match he had with Hearns, and that Odom said he impressed Hearns greatly. I'm based in central New England (then as now), while all his wins took place over 900 miles to the east in Chicago from 1979 to 1983. Any eyewitnesses to his fights in that time and place here at ESB?
