Mike Rossman 'Right Place/Right Time'

Well, that's not much of a statement, being as they already fought.

Rossman was a good, solid technical boxer-puncher. No outstanding physical talent by any means, and far from a great champion, but you're going out on a limb by calling him one of the worst champions ever. Talent-wise he was no worse than a guy like Cotto, in my honest opinion. Both good, solid technical boxers lacking in extraordinary attributes. I agree with AREA53's post.

 

I remember the boxing mags at the time loved Rossman. It seemed they were always playing him up. He had skill; he was a classic smooth boxer-puncher. I just don't think he had heart or a particularly good chin.

 

Rossman did an interview for KO Magazine in '80 about how he, at the "turn of a switch" be a real head case and do harm to anyone unlucky enough to be around him...kind of a weird admission IMO, ..like he was a psycho badass or something, and in fact, he was known to be, in later years, somewhat of a sullen ******* to people who would recognize him in public and speak to him. I know he's a roofer somewhere in Philly, I think, and belongs, or did belong to the same union as Matthew Saad Muhammad. There's a website for that roofers union somewhere where I saw a picture of the two posing together.

 

In point of fact, Rossman's chin was a recognized asset, and Ranquello was the very first opponent to ever knock him down in either the amateur or professional ranks. (Even then, he absorbed repeated haymaker rights before finally sinking to the floor.) However, even before that defeat, Galindez was acknowledged to have the best chin in the division. Marvin Johnson had monstrous power though, just like Saad Muhammad, Mustafa Muhammad and Michael Spinks. (Truth be told, there were very few feather fists among the top light heavyweights of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Having Bob Foster compete among that crew would have been a lot of fun.)

 

You are completely wrong.

In truth, Traversaro wasn't a bad fighter. He had a 44-2-5 record going into the Rossman fight, and was the European champion. In terms of talent, Traversaro probably was one of the 20 best lightheavyweights in the world at the time of the fight. He had quick hands, a pesky left jab, and a very good defense. By no means was Traversaro a bum. It is a vast exaggeration to say that he represented the "worst first defense" of any champion. Far from it.

Rossman was a respectable fighter. Your remarks about him make me wonder how much you know about the lightheavyweight division of the 1970s.

 

The New York Daily News never had Rossman on one of its front pages. Tell me the date if you believe otherwise.

Other remarks you make are wrong as well. Concerning Rossman's "Jewish Bomber" moniker, the fighter, his handlers and the media began playing that image up years before the Lopez fight. It is not true that the "Jewish Bomber" nickname came into vogue just before the Lopez fight, as you state.

Further, Ring Magazine did not start hyping Rossman after he beat Galindez. In fact, Ring didn't provide much coverage at all on Rossman after he won the WBA title. In truth, Rossman had been immensely popular with the fans and press for several years prior to winning the title. Ring tended to cover Rossman less than the other boxing magazines did.

 

The interview took place in 1984. I remember Rossman's remarks well. He wsa not pretending to be a psycho or a badass. Basically, Rossman was admitting that he was very bitter and vexed about the way he had been treated in boxing, in earlier years. His anger mostly concerned his father/manager (by the then deceased), Jimmy DiPiano. Rossman was also angry at the WBA and, to a lesser extent, the TV stations.

To a large extent, Rossman's anger was justified. He burned out as a fighter psychologically and emotionally at a young age, largely because of the way that he was treated by his manager. Rossman didn't make the money that he could have and should have made.

 

Rossman and his people wanted a rematch with Lopez later in 1978, after Rossman became champion. This is well known. Their hopes were dashed when Lopez was kayoed by Saad Muhammad in October of that year.

 

Ramon Ronquillo was not a last minute replacement for his September, 1979 fight against Rossman. Where in the world did you hear this nonsense?

 

Most people see it differently, and rightly so. Quarry took a pounding in the sixth round against Rossman, spending part of the round in trouble on the ropes, dodging Rossman's bombs. Quarry did, however, come back with a few gritty by powerless punches just before the bell.

The big problem for Quarry, that night, is that his left eye was swollen shut. Check out the video on the youtube; you can see that in the sixth, Quarry is having trouble because he can't see out of his left eye. Quarry's brother, Jerry, stopped the match at the end of the sixth for this reason.

I was surprised that the bout was stopped, because even though Mike Quarry was taking a pounding, he was absorbing the punches well and seemed in no danger of going down. Still, Rossman was in complete control of the fight at that point, and if it had continued, Rossman would have won the majority (if not all) of the final rounds en route to a wide UD, or even a later round stoppage.

Overall, the Quarry win was an impressive performance for Rossman. Quarry was still rated within the top ten at the time, so the victory represented Rossman's arrival as a legitimate contender.

 

I always thought Rossman was a pretty unspectacular fighter - as did most other people heading into the first Galindez fight, which is why he was such a big underdog even despite Galindez routinely having tough fights in title defenses. He was a fair technician with a big right hand, but that's basically it. He also did not appear to be a genuine full-fledged LHW - more like a blown up MW or a natural superMW. His loss to Lopez made him look like he didn't belong anywhere near the same ring as a top LHW.

Even to this day, I'm still somewhat surprised and baffled that Rossman was able to pull off the upset like he did.

 

Rossman gave one hell of a fight to Lopez, even in spite of getting his ass kicked. The first five rounds were action packed; very competitive.