BoxRec

James "Bonecrusher" Smith

Ambling Alp wrote:Bert Cooper
Jessie Ferguson

Both fought many of the top contenders and both almost always lost. However each would occasionally get a big win and came close sometimes.

Smokin' Bert Cooper was always a favorite of mine. A tremendous puncher. Mercer and McCall both rated him as the hardest puncher they fought. Also had Holyfield on the floor. He fought better at cruiserweight but fought many at heavyweight. Not a strong enough chin to take punches from the bigger guys.

RAY MERCER: Bert Cooper by far, whooooo, could he hit, Tommy hit pretty hard as well, there was a fighter that I fought his name was Leo Loiacono (a big Italian white boy) he hit real hard as well.

OLIVER MCCALL: "Bert Cooper. Left hook. That was the hardest punch that I ever felt and that I had to overcome. It felt like a truck had hit me. I never got hit by a truck but it felt like if a truck would have hit me."

Great thread, as I haven't heard of some of these names in a long time. Bert Cooper & Thunder were favorites-very fun to watch.

Eddie Cotton
Yaqui Lopez
Henry Hank

Cotton was in a close scrap with Chegui Torres at 39. Great fight.

Another interesting carachter was Charlie 'Devil " Green.
Literaly pulled out of the audience to fight Jose Torres at the Garden.
Had Torres on the deck too before being stopped.
When he got paid he wanted an extra 1.50. for the hotdog he was eating when they pulled him out of the crowd.

nobudius wrote:Great thread, as I haven't heard of some of these names in a long time. Bert Cooper & Thunder were favorites-very fun to watch.

Eddie Cotton
Yaqui Lopez
Henry Hank

Cotton was in a close scrap with Chegui Torres at 39. Great fight.

I think this thread is about guys who weren't really contenders, at least not for long. Cotton and Lopez were legitimate contenders for several years. Hank was for a while as well.

The other guys you mention, Cooper and Thunder were fringe contenders/journeymen. They were fun fun to watch despite their limitations.

Also wanted to add Ernie Lopez & Curtis Cokes. Funny I didn't think of them with the Napoles thread right there.

I've also heard people speak quite highly of Jose Medel, who fell to Jofre, but took out Harada.

Gotcha.

Sort of the Micky Ward type of fighters.

...........what about Colin Jones?

Nah,Jones was was a legit top ten fighter and didn't really have a long enough career to end up as a journeyman.

Kirkland Laing, who Jones beat twice would be a good pick.

Manning Galloway

Harold Brazier

Given the criteria, one has to think a bit...

Andrew Ganigan?

I think Freddie Roach would fit the bill.

nobudius wrote:Given the criteria, one has to think a bit...

Andrew Ganigan?

I think Freddie Roach would fit the bill.

Ganigan won a title -- KO'd Corny Edwards.

Roach definitely fits the bill.

Angel Robinson Garcia
Holly Mimms
Tommy Cordova
Chris "The Shamrock Express "Ried
Christy Elliott
Johnny "The Heat" Verderosa
William"Vampire" Johnson
Doug Dewitt

Arbachakov wrote:Nah,Jones was was a legit top ten fighter and didn't really have a long enough career to end up as a journeyman.

Kirkland Laing, who Jones beat twice would be a good pick.

How frustrating was Kirkland Laing? Had the ability to be a great just never lived upto that ability. So inconsistant, looked brilliant one fight then would get beaten by a nobody. His chin was his downfall, luckily for him he was normally too good for people to hit it. His upset win over Roberto Duran in 1982 springs to mind. Sad story now, actually not sure if he is still alive? He was a alcholic, had a drug problem and was living rough last I read.

expug wrote:Holly Mimms

Holly Mims was a wonderfully skilled Boxer who I believed if he had been handled different could have been Champ. His knockdown of the dangerous Rubin Carter was a work of art. Of course there are those stories that Mimms had 'the cuffs' on that night, and on other nights.

I also seem to recall reading somewhere that Ray Robinson himself was in no great rush to fight Mimms, although he did in the end.

Controversial wrote:How frustrating was Kirkland Laing? Had the ability to be a great just never lived upto that ability. So inconsistant, looked brilliant one fight then would get beaten by a nobody. His chin was his downfall, luckily for him he was normally too good for people to hit it. His upset win over Roberto Duran in 1982 springs to mind. Sad story now, actually not sure if he is still alive? He was a alcholic, had a drug problem and was living rough last I read.

The Gifted One is still alive but has abused his body with years of drink and drugs and is a shadow of the man he once was.