How good were the Bobick brothers?

[scorpio83]

I would please like to know how good were the Bobick brothers? We know that they were both punchers and they each beat Mike Weaver early in his career. Were there anything else you want to comment like how different were their skills?

[HomicideHenry]

Both beat Scott LeDoux as well.

Duane was the harder puncher between the two, and the better skilled. Rodney was good, but overshadowed by his brother. Matter of fact, "The Fighting Bobick's" went beyond just them, as there was 8 other brothers and a sister. Most of them boxed as amateurs.

[Kalan]

They were beyond terrible.... Sitting ducks for any competent Heavyweight.

Putting Rodney in a ring with Larry Holmes was a crime against humanity... Everyone knew it would be brutal.

Rodney was so weak you could push him over with a feather... One hard combination blew him away without effort.

[SenorPipino]

They really weren't that good.

Just serviceable heavyweights. But Duane received a lot of hype because of his amateur and Olympic background, along with the color of his skin.

[Kalan]

Duane fought a lot better as an amateur... He was really awkward and a bit round shouldered and his head was a forward a bit... But he didn't suck his head in as much and he threw his right hand a lot better and smoother with more precision... He knocked out some top amateurs like LeRoy Jones in the 1st round...

There's always 1 fight that destroys your confidence.. Teofilo Stevenson was that fight for Bobick.. Teo fought Bobick in the Pan Am games a year earlier.. Bobick fought very aggressively and won the decision, but Teo was catching him coming in.. The Cuban was bigger, taller, with a longer reach and was tagging Duane easily. I figured he'd beat Duane if they fought again and he beat the living Hell out of the Olympic favorite. Duane looked like the worst boxer in the world.

One thing I've always noticed is some guys shake off defeat like it's nothing.. Ali, Frazier, Lewis, Wladimir, Ortiz... "What'm I going to do? I'll beat him next time." At least they don't show it. Some guys like Bobick feel humiliated. A defeat beats them up emotionally and they almost cry. They don't address the problems and they carry the loss into future fights. Technically Bobick was a mess and mentally he was a loser. Johnny Carson said of as one of his so called "terrible investments" he bought shares in "Duane Bobick's Self Defense Video Series."

[sweetviolenturge]

Both beat Scott LeDoux as well.

Duane was the harder puncher between the two, and the better skilled. Rodney was good, but overshadowed by his brother. Matter of fact, "The Fighting Bobick's" went beyond just them, as there was 8 other brothers and a sister. Most of them boxed as amateurs.

Actually, HH, Ledoux beat Rodney but lost to Duane twice. The first time via a one-sided 10 round decision & the second time via an 8th round KO just a couple of months after Duane's disasterous loss to Ken Norton. Those two victories over Ledoux likely stand as the two best wins of Bobick's career alongside his TKO6 over Chuck Wepner.

[sweetviolenturge]

Rodney wasn't a terrible fighter. He went 37-7 while mixing with a fair mix of capable journeymen & trial horses.
He was a decent mauler, brawler type of heavyweight that was more durable than his brother Duane as the only time that he lost inside the distance was to future all-time great heavyweight champion Larry Holmes on the "Thrilla in Manila" undercard. Rodney beat some OK heavyweights like Pedro Agosto, Ron Stander, Pat Duncan & a young/green Mike Weaver.
He wasn't much of a puncher though as he only stopped 17 opponents in his 37 wins.
Duane could hit much harder than his brother could though, as it turned out, he lacked his brother's durability.
Duane went 48-4 in his carrer while scoring 42 KOs. With his best wins being a pair of victories over Scott Ledoux, a cuts stoppage of Chuck Wepner, KOs over Bunny Johnson, Randy Neumann, a green Mike Weaver & decisions over Larry Middleton & Fred Houpe. Sadly, his chin was a big liability as he was KO'd in his three biggest fights being blown out in a round apiece by Ken Norton & John Tate & in three by the South African banger Kallie Knoetze ( his final loss/fight was a cuts TKO loss to the very capable fringe contender George Chaplin ).
While both men had their flaws I don't think that they should be derided as much as they are. Say what you will about them, they always gave a game, honest effort & both had enough ability & skills to win the vast majority of their fights. Some of them against some decent opposition. Duane was a very successful amateur & an Olympian as well as a legit top ten contender in one of the best eras for heavyweight boxing & Rodney was a good solid journeyman/top 25 - top 30 contender.

[HomicideHenry]

I stand corrected. Duane beat LeDoux twice, and Scott beat Rodney by decision. My mistake.

[Kalan]

No.... LADOUX beat Rodney by decision...

[sweetviolenturge]

I stand corrected. Duane beat LeDoux twice, and Scott beat Rodney by decision. My mistake.

No worries, HH. Happens to the best of us.

[HomicideHenry]

I think the natural question that comes up is, "Who would win? Bobick or Cooney?" as both men are often compared to one another.

[sweetviolenturge]

I think that Cooney would be too fast of a starter & too much of a puncher for Bobick. So, I'd have to pick Cooney via a KO in a round or two.

[HomicideHenry]

It's hard for me to pick.

If you rewatch the Norton fight, Ken's punch clips Bobick's jaw and keeps traveling and nails him directly in the throat and Bobick couldn't really breathe and recover.

The non-stop humiliation from SNL and others about the contest turned Bobick to alcohol and drugs. In a complete depression from which he never entirely recovered, he suffered losses to John Tate, Charlie Chaplin and Knallie Knoetze.

Had the fight never occurred, and had the public not violently turned on Bobick like it did, he potentially would have never lost those matches... But we'll never know... It's the same premise with Cooney never mentally or emotionally ever being the same following the loss to Holmes.

As for Rodney, we'll never really know. Him dying in 1977 makes the picture incomplete. But it was fuel for Duane, when he fought LeDoux, walking into his dressing room before the fight saying, "Nobody beats up my brother."

[sweetviolenturge]

It's hard for me to pick.

If you rewatch the Norton fight, Ken's punch clips Bobick's jaw and keeps traveling and nails him directly in the throat and Bobick couldn't really breathe and recover.

The non-stop humiliation from SNL and others about the contest turned Bobick to alcohol and drugs. In a complete depression from which he never entirely recovered, he suffered losses to John Tate, Charlie Chaplin and Knallie Knoetze.

Had the fight never occurred, and had the public not violently turned on Bobick like it did, he potentially would have never lost those matches... But we'll never know... It's the same premise with Cooney never mentally or emotionally ever being the same following the loss to Holmes.

As for Rodney, we'll never really know. Him dying in 1977 makes the picture incomplete. But it was fuel for Duane, when he fought LeDoux, walking into his dressing room before the fight saying, "Nobody beats up my brother."

Yeah, I'm sure that the Norton fight definitely had a massively negative psychological effect on Duane. And, it's a shame.
I've often wondered what would have happened had Ali chosen to go ahead with the Bobick fight in MSG that was tentatively scheduled to take place following the Norton rubber match. Instead, Ali fought Alfredo Evangelista that May in Landover, Matyland.
Now, it's difficult to imagine Ali losing to Bobick but back during that time Ali was vulnerable & with Eddie Futch in his corner I'm sure that Duane's mauling, smothering, aggressive style would have made the fight competitive & uncomfortable for Ali. And, at that time, Ali had lost much of the snap on his punches, so I don't think that he'd have been too much of a threat to get Bobick out of there early.

[HomicideHenry]

Bobick would have most likely won an ugly fifteen round decision over Ali, imho.

[sweetviolenturge]

Bobick would have most likely won an ugly fifteen round decision over Ali, imho.

I've often had the same thought, HH.
The only thing that has stopped me from being convinced of it though was his performance against Earnie Shavers. He looked awful in outpointing Evangelista in May of '77 & of course, even worse against "Neon" Leon in February of '78, but in between, he had what was his last great effort in sqeaking out a narrow decision over Shavers. Of course, Shavers made a lot of mistakes in that fight that not only allowed Ali to survive the second round in which Ali was out on his feet but the remainder of the contest as well.
With Eddie Futch in the corner of Bobick it would have been interesting to see whether Bobick would have been able to stick to the Futch game plan that was so successful for Joe Frazier & Ken Norton.

[HomicideHenry]

Bobick had more skills than Shavers. Earnie had the punch and youth, but little else. Considering Ali's last kayo win was over Richard Dunn in 1975-1976, there's no possible chance he hurts or stops Bobick. So if Duane loses, it'd be strictly a cardiovascular situation.

[sweetviolenturge]

Not many would agree with us, I'm sure but I concur.

[Kalan]

Not me.... I hate to say it, but Ali wins.

Ali was bad at that time... The Evangelista fight was a joke... Johnny Carson announced that Ali and Evangelista "Were just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for Promoting Non-Violence in Boxing" .... That got the biggest laugh I've ever heard.

But Bobick was so punchable and Ali loved humiliating Quarry.... Fighting Bobick would get Ali psyched up like it did Norton.... There was something about Bobick... You just can't stand losing to a guy who's face is right in your glove and he's got 2 left feet.. He was better than Rodney - but Duane was a disaster looking for a place to happen.

[HomicideHenry]

If Ali wins, it'd be a dull ugly contest I think like the Spinks rematch.

[Kalan]

I think Ali wins very easily and the referee is forced to stop it.... Duane was lame... He was a sitting duck.

South African Kallie Knoetze ran over Bobick like a lawnmower in 3 rounds -- and KK never beat a good Heavyweight.

[sweetviolenturge]

I disagree. At that point, Ali had almost completely lost the snap on his punches. Hell, he couldn't even drop or stop "Neon" Leon & his chin was certainly no better than Duane Bobick's. So, there's no way that Ali would have knocked out Bobick. Say what you will about his chin but it took a decent banger to get Duane out of there. Norton, Knoetzee & Tate.

[Kalan]

Excuse me, but Norton, Knoetze & Tate weren't great punchers... Bobick couldn't get through 5 rounds of action with the 3 of them... They couldn't hit like Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Joshua, or the Klitschko's and they wiped Bobick out.

Ali would not have to knock Bobick out or put him down... He'd beat him to trash like he did Quarry... For the amount of amateur and professional experience Bobick had, he was one of the more unsophisticated boxers to ever reach a high ranking in the Top-10... He had no stance. His head was forward... He had no footwork or jab. If you were a very weak puncher Duane could stay on you and keep throwing... Even when he won he got punched right in the face... He was a puncher's dream.. He was a boxer's dream.. He was a boxer-puncher's dream.

[scorpio83]

Yes, Duane Bobick was overhyped and Ken Norton exposed him by knocking him out in the first round. Even there was an episode of Saturday Night Live showing the footage of Norton knocking Bobick out over and over again as part of their joke.

[HomicideHenry]

Yes, Duane Bobick was overhyped and Ken Norton exposed him by knocking him out in the first round. Even there was an episode of Saturday Night Live showing the footage of Norton knocking Bobick out over and over again as part of their joke.

If Ken Norton hit you in the THROAT I don't think anyone is getting up. That's why I generally overlook the loss. His subsequent losses following that came when he was all but a full blown alcoholic.