Duane Bobick thread

[Boxing Bob]

Stevenson at least as talented as Ali?????????? Pastranos anti-American BS has got to stop. This guy tries to claim every great American fighter dodged some bum he swears could have beaten him. A burning question- is Pastrano really this ****** or does he believe this BS.

[Dubblechin]

If you can't read it the headline asks: "Is Duane Bobick Boxing's Next Saviour?"

[joseph5620]

I disagree that he couldn't take a punch. The guy had 103 amateur fights and he was only stopped three times as an amateur (one of them coming against Lyle and another coming against Stevenson - hardly disgraceful). In fact, Bobick entered the Stevenson fight with his left eye nearly swollen shut (from eating so many rights in his previous bout) and the it probably should've been a walkover win (due to injury) for Stevenson and never been fought at all, but everyone thought Duane would win.

He also had 52 professional fights and was stopped four times (one of those four via cuts). That's not bad at all. On the contrary, he had a terrible defense and rarely moved his head. If Bobick had a bad chin on top of it, he'd have been knocked out a lot more times than six times in 155 fights.

And even in fights against Norton and Tate, he didn't go down easy. He took flush head shots over and over and over again, because he HAD NO DEFENSE. Norton was winding up and throwing overhand rights that were coming from the floor and hitting Bobick flush. And I think Tate hit him 50 or so flush shots to the head, and Bobick finished on his feet in the corner.

So he wasn't "chinny" like Williams, who got knocked down all the time.

He just didn't take training seriously once he joined the paid ranks. As an amateur, his offense was his defense. In the pros, you can't just streamroll everyone. You have to move your head, and clinch and slip a jab. Like I said, when they turned pro, Bobick was better than Holmes. Five or six years later, Holmes had improved greatly and Bobick didn't look as good in the ring as he did in 1972. He regressed.

Bobick was badly hurt by the first hard punch Norton hit him with. And Norton was not a one shot KO artist. I can't see that happerning to a fighter with a solid chin. It's not like Bobick was taking the punches well. Getting stopped every time you step up to a higher level of competition is not good at all either. I believe Bobick had problems taking punches and I'm resolute about that.



I also don't believe he "regressed" after 1972. My belief is that he just didn't get any better and wasn't as good as people thought he would be.

[Dubblechin]

Bobick was badly hurt by the first hard punch Norton hit him with. And Norton was not a one shot KO artist. I can't see that happerning to a fighter with a solid chin. It's not like Bobick was taking the punches well. Getting stopped every time you step up to a higher level of competition is not good at all either. I believe Bobick had problems taking punches and I'm resolute about that.

I also don't believe he "regressed" after 1972. My belief is that he just didn't get any better and wasn't as good as people thought he would be.

I agree, Norton wasn't a one-punch knockout artist (unless your name is Randy Stephens). But Norton also didn't knock Bobick out with one punch. He knocked him out with about 25 flush shots.

And I never saw the Lyle fight, but I never heard he was out unconscious for minutes, like you claimed. You also said something about Bobick getting knocked out a lot with headgear on. When Bobick fought in the amateurs, they rarely used headgear. They didn't use it at all in international meets in the 1970s when Bobick was the top-rated amateur heavyweight in the world. (They didn't use headgear in the Olympics until 1984.)

I just have a hard time saying a guy with a terrible defense who engages in 155 amateur and pro fights, and only gets knocked out six times, had a weak chin.

Guys with weak chins tend to protect those chins. The guys with a solid chins tend to be the ones who ignore defense, because they don't feel they need to learn to slip punches or move their head -- because they believe in their chin.

I will always believe his lack of dedication and training had more to do with his failures as a pro than anything. In that regard I think Bobick has a lot in common with Jorge Gonzales actually. I don't believe Jorge Gonzales was chinny, either, even though he got knocked out a lot more than Bobick did. But Gonzales turned pro and got worse as he moved along, due to his lack of dedication and overconfidence.

Bobick was just one of those guys who believed the hype about himself. Frazier told him he was great. Eddie Futch, his trainer, told him he was great and could beat Norton. Bobick beat everyone fairly easil and grew very lazy. And when he faced Norton, he got blown out. Simple as that.

He wasn't dedicated enough. He never improved. How difficult is it to learn to slip a jab or move your head, for God's sake? Because Bobick never did.

[young_robbed]

So now Stevenson is as good as Ali and Bobick apparently would have knocked out Ali. **** off Pastrano. Bobick was garbage, and Stevenson was a very good AMATUER. We don't know how he would have done at a professional level. Period..

[Pastrano]

So now Stevenson is as good as Ali and Bobick apparently would have knocked out Ali. **** off Pastrano. Bobick was garbage, and Stevenson was a very good AMATUER. We don't know how he would have done at a professional level. Period..

You are American, so i forgive you. Just don't let it happen too often. I never said that about Bobick anyway.

[young_robbed]

You are American, so i forgive you. Just don't let it happen too often. I never said that about Bobick anyway.

That doesn't matter that I'm american. No one should consider an amateur fighter as talented or as good as Ali. PERIOD. That's blasphemy.

[Pastrano]

That doesn't matter that I'm american. No one should consider an amateur fighter as talented or as good as Ali. PERIOD. That's blasphemy.

And this coming from a diehard Ali fan...can you understand why I wouldn't think its objective?

[young_robbed]

And this coming from a diehard Ali fan...can you understand why I wouldn't think its objective?

I'm not even that big of an Ali fan. I like him. But seriously Stevenson has not done anything to be considered as talented as Ali. That makes no sense at all.

[JAB5239]

Ahem, he beat guys like Biggs, Dokes, Tate and Bobick. Two of them were champions and the other two were top ranked contenders.

Two were top ranked contenders and two were champions when Stevenson fought them? How many rounds were these bouts scheduled for? You don't seem to understand that fighting 3 rounds and fighting 15 rounds are two vastly different things, and you're content to ignore the evidence that being a great amateur doesn't ensure you're going to be a great pro.

What other proof do you want?

Other proof? Im still waiting for SOME proof!

Stevenson destroyed them all. I think youre just envious because Teofilo is Cuban and many experts said he could beat Ali. Even Foreman said he would def be world champion if he turned pro. And so did Cosell.

Opinions are not facts. What is a fact is that no amateur fighter ever beat a heavyweight world champion without working his way up the pro ranks and learning as he went along. I'd sure be interested in some links to all these experts who said Stevenson could beat Ali.....whats the hold up?