Duane Bobick - An 'Almost' Title Challenger

**Scott9945** · 02-01-2011, 01:18 AM

Originally posted by IRISH LULLABY

Here's a fighter rarely talked about. Here are some quick facts for those interested;

- Defeated Larry Holmes and Mike Weaver in the amateurs. Bobick was managed by Smokin' Joe Frazier & trained by Eddie Futch.

- Before his fight with Ken Norton, Bobick had mostly fought stiffs but had two decent wins over Scott LeDoux & Chuck Wepner and a victory over a 'green' Mike Weaver, future WBA Heavyweight champ. Amassing a record of 38-0 with 32 KO's, he was just one fight away from challenging the Champion, Muhammad Ali in September of '77.

- Bobick was ranked as high as #4.
- Norton had just lost a controversial decision to Ali in New York and was still ranked #1.
- The winner of this fight could go on to fight Ali for the title, Angelo Dundee saw a potential Bobick fight as more lucrative than a 4th Norton bout. (Highly doubt that Ali would want to fight Norton a 4th time).
- Frazier had worked with Bobick to develop his left hook.

Fight Purses:

Duane Bobick: $250,000
ken Norton: $500,000

- Norton dismantles Bobick with devastating looping overhand rights in the first round.
- Ali would decide to fight #5 ranked bomber, Earnie Shavers, than rematch Norton.
- The almost title challanger, Bobick, fades into obscurity.

I don't remember Bobick being trained by Eddie Futch. Ken Norton was trained by Futch though.

**IRISH LULLABY** · 02-01-2011, 01:26 AM

Scott9945,

Futch was in Bobick's corner for this fight. That is, he was Norton's former trainer. Frazier bought Bobick's conract from Billy Daniels in hopes of his investment paying off. A win over Norton would mean a fight with Ali could have him promoted as the next 'Great White Hope'.

**IRISH LULLABY** · 02-01-2011, 01:36 AM

Scott9945;

- Bob Biron, Norton's manager, after the fight asked the WBC and WBA to force Ali to fight Norton.

- Bobick was tagged "The Great White Hopeless" by Sports Illustrated.

**TBear** · 02-01-2011, 02:07 AM

Norton sure handed it to Duane that night. But so did Knoteze and Chaplin. Bobick was a good amateur but it is futher proof that the amateurs and the pros are completely seperate worlds. I have the fight so I didn't watch it again but you almost got to feel sorry for Bobick, like he was being fed to the lions!

**IRISH LULLABY** · 02-01-2011, 02:27 AM

TBear,

- Good points, even though Bobick was touted earlier in his amateur career, his devastating loss to Stevenson was a major blow to him mentally. Many brokers and financial backers jumped the ship when he lost. However, he spent four years fighting mostly scrubs in the pros and it was a major step in class to fight a '77 version of Norton.

- Bobick was still highly ranked in '78. Looking to rebuild after his first loss. Knoetze, a Policeman, finished Bobick infront of 40,000 of his fellow countryman.

- Frazier & Futch made a poor decision to match him up with Norton, when he was just a few months away from a 'Big Money' fight with Ali where he could have earned atleast 10 times more money than a Norton fight. Bobick could have fought a couple other heavyweights besides Norton. LeDoux and Bobick broke attendance records in Minnesota and he could have rematched him instead.

- Bill Daniels, cable television exec, poorly managed Bobick's first 25 fights, matching him with all bums, beside Weaver.

Good amateur boxer, flop as a pro.

**TBear** · 02-01-2011, 02:44 AM

Originally posted by IRISH LULLABY

TBear,

- Good points, even though Bobick was touted earlier in his amateur career, his devastating loss to Stevenson was a major blow to him mentally. Many brokers and financial backers jumped the ship when he lost. However, he spent four years fighting mostly scrubs in the pros and it was a major step in class to fight a '77 version of Norton.

- Bobick was still highly ranked in '78. Looking to rebuild after his first loss. Knoetze, a Policeman, finished Bobick infront of 40,000 of his fellow countryman.

- Frazier & Futch made a poor decision to match him up with Norton, when he was just a few months away from a 'Big Money' fight with Ali where he could have earned atleast 10 times more money than a Norton fight. Bobick could have fought a couple other heavyweights besides Norton. LeDoux and Bobick broke attendance records in Minnesota and he could have rematched him instead.

- Bill Daniels, cable television exec, poorly managed Bobick's first 25 fights, matching him with all bums, beside Weaver.

Good amateur boxer, flop as a pro.

I have watched alot of his fights. Do you feel he was handled and developed correctly as a pro? To me it seems like he wasn't.

**IRISH LULLABY** · 02-01-2011, 03:03 AM

TBear,

- Bobick was poorly managed by Bill Daniels. After the Olympics, Bobick's stock had plummeted after his damaging defeat. His contract with Daniels would mean he would receive fifty percent of the gross purse after expenses for a total of 25 fights.

- Duane had intentions of remaining in the amateurs for at-least another 2 years before turning pro, in an attempt to go one better at the 1974 World Games. My opinion is that he wasn't developed properly when he was with Bill Daniels. He didn't have any quality wins after a considerable amount of pro fights, besides a green version of Weaver. Through 1974 he only made 3 National TV appearances, which I'm sure you might have seen.

- There have been more ****** decisions than matching Bobick and Norton, for example Ray Seales and Hagler.

**rsf** · 02-01-2011, 05:01 AM

i read somewhere that eddie futch thought that him being in bobicks corner really got norton in the frame of mind to show futch just how good he was

**IRISH LULLABY** · 03-01-2011, 04:42 AM

rsf,

I haven't read that before but it is possible that Futch being in the opposite corner might have motivated Norton - although Futch already knew how good Norton was.

Duane Bobick - An 'Almost' Title Challenger