ODLH's 6th opponent Mike Grable

[magwitch]

This fight was on TV here in the UK last night. I really enjoyed it. Oscar's first fight past 4 (or 5?) rounds and Grable took him the distance (8 rounds).
Well beaten but very game guy Grable with a very good amateur record of his own.
Anyway 4 months after that (previously 13-1-2) ......then he got knocked out in a round by some guy 29-2 (one Todd Foster) After this Grable seems to have done a spell inside for stolen goods before dropping a 4 rounder to a 4 fight LOSING novice in'03 (8 years later!) before retiring and becoming a health coach for the disabled among others. Fascinating story and it seems his courageos run-in with a young, future great in De La Hoya kind of threw him off course a bit.
I enjoyed watching your fight Mike Grable anyway, if you see this!

[reggaereggae]

Damn I wrote a whole post but my iPad ran out of batteries!

Anyway, Google Todd Foster, he was a decorated ex amateur who boxed in 1988 Olympics and has the unique distinction of knocking out the same opponent twice in one day (due to some very corrupt Korean officials.)

[palooka]

Foster was very heavy handed, he had a wicked left hook.

[hurricanemitch14]

Foster could bang....forgot all about him

[magwitch]

I had never heard of Todd Foster tbh. What stood out for me was how fragile a boxing career can be. It's almost like a mistress who promises everything. I think they said Grable had 150 amateur fights and won some titles/ Olympic trials etc. Yet 16 fights in he gets derailed, by the looks of it. And he couldn't have been more game or smart in that fight - he was just second best. I may be oversimplifying things - I didn't realise he boxed Foster only 4 months after ODLH when I made my first post, I thought there was a 2 year gap - perhaps it was the Foster KO that did for him - or the jail - I just think that his career looks like a microcosm of a thousand boxers' careers.

[sucracristo]

that was a HUGE step in class from beating club fighters to fighting 2
olympians. 2 years later he beat another winning record pro back at the
club level where he belonged, then who can explain what happened when
he returned 8 years later, but obviously wasn't his old self.

boxing at the 88 olympics was insane. not only did foster have to fight
the same guy twice, hembrick misread the bus schedule to the arena
and didn't arrive in time for their check-in and lost by walk-over, roy
jones got robbed in the gold medal bout against a guy who had already
been involved in a weird episode against the canadian, downey, in the
semifinals and was also gifted a bad decision i think against the italian
in the quarters. carbajal was robbed and i thought the bowe-lewis stoppage
was weird as hell. the korean bantam was penalized for head-butting and a
korean mob attacked the ref after the fight in the ring and then the korean
boxer sat down in the middle of the ring and refused to leave after he was
announced the loser until eventually the arena emptied out and they turned
the lights out with him still sitting there. that korean won the wbc bantam title
in his 9th pro fight. no cuba at the 88 olympics

foster was an especially viscious body puncher.
his olympic trials final vs charles murray was a busy fight with a lot of body punching
for an amateur fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkjAmJDRNME

this is him smoking khalid rhahalu in the olympics, who went on to win a title as a pro i think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G8nGyPx0bQ

this is the double-header vs the korean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUo2JniK25k

lost close fight vs the australian in the quarters i think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NncaTaWZcAA

[magwitch]

that was a HUGE step in class from beating club fighters to fighting 2
olympians. 2 years later he beat another winning record pro back at the
club level where he belonged, then who can explain what happened when
he returned 8 years later, but obviously wasn't his old self.

boxing at the 88 olympics was insane. not only did foster have to fight
the same guy twice, hembrick misread the bus schedule to the arena
and didn't arrive in time for their check-in and lost by walk-over, roy
jones got robbed in the gold medal bout against a guy who had already
been involved in a weird episode against the canadian, downey, in the
semifinals and was also gifted a bad decision i think against the italian
in the quarters. carbajal was robbed and i thought the bowe-lewis stoppage
was weird as hell. the korean bantam was penalized for head-butting and a
korean mob attacked the ref after the fight in the ring and then the korean
boxer sat down in the middle of the ring and refused to leave after he was
announced the loser until eventually the arena emptied out and they turned
the lights out with him still sitting there. that korean won the wbc bantam title
in his 9th pro fight. no cuba at the 88 olympics

foster was an especially viscious body puncher.
his olympic trials final vs charles murray was a busy fight with a lot of body punching
for an amateur fight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkjAmJDRNME

this is him smoking khalid rhahalu in the olympics, who went on to win a title as a pro i think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G8nGyPx0bQ

this is the double-header vs the korean
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUo2JniK25k

lost close fight vs the australian in the quarters i think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NncaTaWZcAA

wasn't able to watch this the other the week so thanks for the shares

Only watched the Foster Murray fight so far - interesting the commentator Keith Jackson (nice commentary I thought) says that Foster is the Olympic Trials champion. So it sounds as though some other guy was booted out for drugs, Murray was drafted in for the final, but Foster was already on the plane.......they also said if that fight had been a draw they'd have had to come and do it again the next day. Bit confusing lol.

Just watched ODLH vs. Manny there, think this was Oscar's last fight. He just didn't look at the races. I read at the time that he'd messed up the weight. I don't think we were looking at a "shot" fighter there, I just thought Oscar looked leaden-legged. I wonder lifestyle was a factor - as he entered into rehab only a few years later.