and had reached an effective fighting weight of 200+ lbs How much more successful could he have been? How would a bulked up foster have fared in other eras?
It bears mentioning here that BF's final victory and then final defeat were against the very heavily and ultimately fatally juiced Bob Hazelton, who BF actually knocked out in ten the first time, but was retired in two for their rematch. BF wanted to represent the US in Rome at LHW, while Clay represented the HW division. That's actually what should have happened. Nobody could have beaten young Cassius at HW in Rome. BF really did try to gain weight for Ali and Frazier, but like Mike Spinks, his frame was his frame. The Jinx gained his 30 pounds from David Sears to Larry Holmes I cleanly under the guidance of Mackie Shilstone (and retained what Mackie gave him for the rest of his career). No PEDs for Bobby, just the revolutionary conditioning Shilstone gave the Jinx (whose bodily form has never changed, and really didn't much in appearance from 170 for Sears to 212 Tyson) and we have a conversation. Michael Spinks proved to have a HW chin and body, but the quick starting and peaking Tyson was expected to win just the way he did that night. (Even then, Tyson did not one punch him and had to evade one final Jinx bomb to deliver the finisher. Tyson did one punch a lot of far bigger HWs than Michael, many accomplished guys also in a single round, who were probably inferior HWs.) When Michael moved up to HW, he remained upright through 30 rounds against a top three ATG HW, then prevailed against Cooney in a bout where he was expected to get killed early, yet withstood some deadly shots to win in five rounds. (Even with an ability to clinch, Gerry simply wasn't going to win at that stage of the bout. Tyson was not indicative of the level of HW Jinx proved to be, which was pretty damned good.) Give both Michael and Bob the regimen of Shilstone, Bob would need a miracle to prevail, either at 175 or HW. (I don't see BF surviving Qawi either, let alone defeat Ike. A full strength EMM might have broken Bob's skinny frame in half after slipping BF's shots.) The simple truth is that Bob Foster simply never had that HW punch resistance. He was decked by Eddie Vick (the only recorded KD scored of Vick's career last I checked several years ago), and by Frank DePaula in an early opening round flash KD for his first defense at 175. Ali decked him eight times with eight individual punches. The GOAT never did anything like that in any other professional bout. (There was no wearing down of Bob at altitude, as the elevation bothered Ali, something he reluctantly admitted in his post fight interview.) So there you have it. Steroids or no, BF simply didn't have a HW chin, and an anemic HW power resume. Let's not forget he went the Championship Distance four times in defense of his title, and into the 14th round with Chris Finnegan. Pondering on the fly as I've been composing this rambling (okay, PONDEROUS) post and will leave it as is. Even with Shilstone building him up, Bob never had the chin.
Trying to think of other HW Champions Bob could have beaten if weighing 200 pounds. Sullivan was far too big, strong and durable. Corbett was too fast, too elusive and too skilled. Even at 167, Fitz kills him. Marvin Hart beat Jack Johnson over 20 and seems on paper to be a little too good at his 1905 peak, although a possibility could be suggested here. Burns takes him out whenever Tommy feels like it. Everybody's a complete wash until we get to the inconsistent Sharkey, but we have footage of the Gob's best, and even Louis had to drop him more than once to finish his career at the end. Sharkey was too fast, too unpredictable, and the hook he used to deck Primo in Carnera I looked like Frazier's dropping of Ali in the FOTC. Considering the way Terrell mauled Bob, what do you think Primo's going to do to him? Moving on... He's definitely not taking out Braddock, and we saw Jimmy's best over the first four rounds with Louis before arthritis began hindering him. The Cinderella Man could also bring it for 15 rounds. Best bet is Leon Spinks. Neon's best wins are over the big and deadly Mercado (right when the Columbian peaked) and the balls to the wall swarmer who carried plans out to the letter in dethroning Ali. No, I think BF's going to find himself facing a bobbing and weaving two fisted version of Frazier here, where Bob's more competitive than he was against Smoke, but if Leon tears after him the way he started like a bull against Coetzee, BF's getting propelled through the ropes as legitimate HW Gerrie nearly was. Eliminate that fast start, Neon would break him down. I just don't see a 200 pound Bob Foster ever becoming HW Champion. Question to ask is when the HW division was at it's weakest for him to make the most noise as a contender. Michael Spinks has a claim as the GOAT LHW, certainly the greatest definitely clean one. Is Bob even a top ten LHW Champion at 175? We're talking about Fitz, O'Brien, Dillon (the HW "Giant Killer"), Levinski, Carp, Slattery, Loughran, Rosenbloom, JHL, TJF, Conn, Maxim, Moore (AKA "Death to BF"), Harold, Willie (unless Bob can beat Pastrano on cuts, he can't win over a proved top ten 1950's HW contender), Chegui (who Bob's not stopping, Cus would be strategizing for, and if Jose gets that hook to BF's body like he did Pastrano's...), a two fisted Conteh (when John could produce three KDs in a bout with a right cross, overhand right and right uppercut), or Qawi (a cruel and sadistic version of the quick killing Frazier who will enjoy slowly pulling Bob's arms, legs and wings off), EMM (a lazily sadistic menace before the Snipes escapade), and I think I'll stop there because F@CK the post Championship Distance era of juicers. So let's see...how many did I name? 19? Okay folks, whittle it down. (On second thought, maybe it's time for...@KLOMPTONMAN!!!l (Okay Steve, let 'er RIP!!!)
He had the height reach, and power, but I'm not sure it would help his punch resistance, any heavyweight with decent power could ko him, he was stopped by Ernie Terrell, a big guy but hardly a power puncher.
