I 100% agree this would be one of the most entertaining barroom brawls ever. King Kong vs Godzilla level mayhem. I think both men would quickly abandon any strategy their corners came up with and would immediately meet ring center swinging for the fences. Since the two of them had cinder block chins and decent (but not great) power--combined with sloppy technique and a lack of speed and creativity--it would likely go the distance. The winner would probably be whoever has more late round endurance to convince the judges with their work rate. That being said, I think Smith has the advantage in late round endurance. Smith managed to buzz Tyson towards the very end of their bout, and Smith's come from behind KO of Bruno was some epic stuff. He slugged it out with guys like Weaver and Ribalta until the final bell without slowing down. All these instances prove his power didn't fizzle away late and that Smith had good stamina for a slugger. Cobb on the other hand went the distance numerous times against some very good boxers such as Norton, Holmes, Douglas, and Dokes, but lost every single one of those fights (the Holmes fight was completely one sided, but to be fair Smith didn't do much better either). In Cobbs defense, many of these were close split decisions against much faster guys with solid amateur backgrounds. He arguably beat Douglas. Cobb did manage to outpoint Mercado and drug the fearsome Shavers into deep waters before stopping him which is no easy feat. Through it all, both Smith and Cobb showed tremendous toughness and effort in their roller coaster careers. I think Cobb was less talented, but had more heart and was a better body puncher/inside fighter. Smith had far less variety in his shots primarily focusing on straight punches down the middle while Cobb could throw hooks, uppercuts with either hand, overhands, etc. They're about the same height, Smith is a little bit heavier on average with longer arms, but they're generally close to the same size overall. For my personal imaginary stats, this is how I compare them: Smith: 6'4 233 lbs Power: 8 Defense: 3 Hand speed: 4 Chin: 9 Stamina: 8 Foot speed: 6 Combination punching: 5 Punch variety: 3 Physical strength: 8 Technique: 5 Ring IQ: 4 Accuracy: 4 Heart: 6 Overall rating: 5.6 Cobb: 6'3, 230 lbs Power: 6 Defense: 4 Hand speed: 5 Chin: 10 Stamina: 7 Foot speed: 5 Combination punching: 6 Punch variety: 5 Physical strength: 8 Technique: 4 Ring IQ: 2 Accuracy: 5 Heart: 8 Overall rating: 5.8 Cobb's slight advantages in combination punching/variety and hand speed would serve him well early, but as the fight drags on Smiths small advantages in stamina, power, and ring IQ would give him a slight edge late. This would be an incredibly close fight from start to finish. It could either end with a 7-5 verdict or a split decision. A draw wouldn't be out of the question either, but a knockout probably would be outside of a bad cut or a freakish punchers chance. The fight: As for how things would play out, the first 2-3 rounds Cobb's hand speed and combinations buzz the slow and wide open Smith and Cobb likely wins the majority of them. Rounds 4-5 would be an all out war with zero regard for caution or technique. There's be lots of warnings from the ref as both guys wrestle, shove, clash heads, maybe they even trade a few flash knockdowns getting the crowd excited and on their feet. I think by round 6-7, both guys slow down leaning on each other to catch a breather and cut back on all the mindless slugging to recover. It picks back up in the 8th with wild bombs being launched from Smith that wake Cobb up. Rounds 9-10 would probably be where Smith is the busiest and manages to stun Cobb and outwork him. By rounds 11-12, both men are spent. They'd be throwing arm punches, likely only one at a time with half hearted body shots to keep each other honest whenever they fall into a clinch or end up on the inside. Gun to my head, if they only fought once, I think Smith takes a split decision but anything could happen when two similar sized guys with similar strengths/weaknesses and styles duke it out.
Very nice, but aside from limitations in his delivery system, speed, & general technique-& afraid to pull the trigger when he morphed into "Bonehugger" vs. Tyson... Does Smith not have Top Tier power?
Top tier would be 8/10 and above. Smith's power was like a dice roll, either he was going to deliver, or you'd be waiting for the detonation but would discover the bomb was a dud. In other words, he was so inconsistent and his record is confusing. The fragile Marvis Frazier and David Bey went the distance with Smith. He stopped Weaver in the 1st, but went the distance the 2nd time. The opposite was true with Witherspoon. Somehow didn't put a dent in Moorer, a guy who is accused by several people on this forum to have a glass chin. But then he has the impressive KO over Bruno, dropped Ruddock and Ribalta, etc. KO% isn't the end all be all, but it can't be glossed over that Smiths isn't particularly impressive. He could hit hard, no doubt, but plenty of people did manage to go the distance with him. It could be because of how slow he was and the other factors you pointed out, such as poor form and an inability to pull the trigger. Maybe I should bump him up to 8 since some boxers who fought him did rate his power high. Maybes it's just that he was so inconsistent and sloppy that he simply couldn't deliver that power as much as he needed to. I don't think it would make a huge difference in this matchup given Cobb's chin and how the styles clash, so I won't change my verdict, but I'll be generous to Smith in regards to his power rating and edit.
Think this goes to Smith by decision. I don't see Smith turning hugger in this one. Tex takes some banging shots and loses on points.
So I always make the distinction between power & effective power. It is doubtful that Smith did or could not hit about as hard in various fights unless washed up, but in a fight like against Tyson he rarely pulled the trigger & kept "bonehugging"-other times he was inaccurate & slow. I actually would not rate any fighter "top tier" in power unless they are at LEAST 9 out of 10 for their division! Smith was at least that. However in a system evaluating effectiveness & KO ability, he would rate significantly lower. I just believe it is best to distinguish these things. Theoretically a boxer could be terrible, lose every fight, rarely connect at all flush or effectively... But maybe breaks forearms often because he hits harder than anyone in Human History. That man would be a 10 for power. And maybe a 1 for effective power. The Anti-Archie Moore.
Well that's why I have factors like accuracy and technique in my stat sheet. Shavers would be another guy with tremendous power but his ability to actually finish a guy when hurt is rather poor. While not as bad as Smith in terms of delivery and technique, Shavers would sometimes swing for the fences after scoring a knockdown and blow his load or leave himself open to be countered.
You know what's funny i actually watched Frazier vs Bonecrusher a few days ago, it recently surfaced on internet after being a rare obscure fight for a long time. It was kind of a strange fight in all honesty, Bonecrusher came out and looked to bomb Frazier out of there in the 1st round. You know like Bonecrusher did to Witherspoon, Weaver, when he traps an opponent on the ropes and just wails away at them. To Frazier's credit he actually dealt with that onslaught quite well, which surprised me considering he looked like a deer in the headlights vs Holmes. Bonecrusher always looked dangerous in the fight and even dropped Frazier like a falling pine tree, with one right hand in the 5th round. He just couldn't ever quite pin down Frazier when he had him along the ropes, who was a bit too elusive for Bonecrusher and outworked him. As you said Bonecrusher is a bit of anomaly, he has some impressive early power stoppages aswell as late ones. But then there's a few head scratchers on there, where he went the distance with fighters you'd expect him to stop, i guess you could put that down to his lack of skill and his stamina could be suspect aswell. I know what your thinking "how can Smith have suspect stamina when he had noted late stoppages" but honestly his workrate would drop significantly, if he didn't bomb you out early maybe he was just lazy ? i don't know. One final point is that i heard Bonecrusher also hired a shrink, so maybe there was some underlying mental issues we don't know about. That maybe contributed to his varying performances.
Some guys mentally check out to preserve their stamina if they can't bomb you out the same round they knock you down. It's weird. For some old school fighters (and even some modern ones), they sense weakness like a shark smells blood and continue to attack even during the following round. Neither approach is right or wrong, it depends on the survival skills of the opponent, your own finishing skills, and knowing how good your stamina is. The smart fighter is honest with himself and knows if he can sustain another attempt at a stoppage. It could also be laziness or a psychological issue he needed therapy for as you pointed out. I had no idea he went to a shrink. The only thing I know for sure is that Smith better not blow through his gas tank attempting to KO the durable Cobb unless he's certain he can accomplish such a feat! Because if he fails and runs out of energy...
I'd actually lean towards Tex in a very close hard to score fight, a 5-4-1 type 10 rounder where both sides think they'd won.
Bonecrusher would edge Tex over the distance. Smith in his prime could take a punch, and we know Tex could. But Bone punched a bit harder, and if he let his hands go a little bit more, he has this. Can't see Tex backing him up either.
