BoxRec

I recently re-watched Holmes vs Cobb, and I must say that I think Howard Cosell was a bit of a premature hater on this fight. While it is true that you can't really give a round to Cobb, there were some rounds that you could argue may of been even. Cobb always came forward and threw alot of shots, even though many were arm punches with no power behind them, but then again that was just how Cobb fought. Was it the complete domination that Cosell made it out to be? No. Least not in my opinion. Cobb did his best, and stayed competitive. It wasnt the gross mismatch history made it out to be. Let us not forget what Holmes would later say of Cobb when his career was over, "The hardest punching man I ever fought was Earnie Shavers, he hit like he came from another planet. But without question the strongest man I ever fought was Randy Tex Cobb."

Cosel quit covering boxing after this. Said he was disgusted or some nonsense. Cobb said that he could discover a cure for cancer but his greatest accomplishment would still be getting Cosel out of boxing.

I think, in truth, Howard Cosell's heart wasn't into boxing any more after his meal ticket *Ali* was so brutally beaten by Holmes, and of course ended his career dismally against Berbick. Without Ali, there simply wasn't a Howard Cosell. Throw in the 1980s-early 90s political bullshit that boxing ought to be banned due to brain injuries and deaths, I think Cosell just used a scape goat to leave boxing behind.

I remember that fight well. There was a lot of one-way traffic, but because Cobb had a granite chin and didn't bruise easily, it just appeared to be a garden-variety boxing lesson. There have been, and continue to be, far worse mismatches. Cobb's role in "Raising Arizona" is probably his third greatest accomplishment, after getting Cosell out of boxing and punishing Holmes' fists with his face for 15 rounds

Tex Cobbs contribution to boxing folklore is legendary. From getting knocked out by a Mexican bantamweight to kicking Howard Cosell out of boxing, his one-liners are a part of boxing history.
But the funniest by far involves a charity function attended by Cobb, alongside guys like Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon and, for some reason, Renaldo Snipes. Cobb adresses the gathering, saying that 'It's an honour to be here with some of the most bad-ass niggas that ever lived'.
Snipes takes offense, angrily protesting that 'I object to being called a nigga'.
Cobb : 'Relax buddy, I wasn't talking about you'.

witherspoon wrote:Tex Cobbs contribution to boxing folklore is legendary. From getting knocked out by a Mexican bantamweight to kicking Howard Cosell out of boxing, his one-liners are a part of boxing history.
But the funniest by far involves a charity function attended by Cobb, alongside guys like Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, Tim Witherspoon and, for some reason, Renaldo Snipes. Cobb adresses the gathering, saying that 'It's an honour to be here with some of the most bad-ass niggas that ever lived'.
Snipes takes offense, angrily protesting that 'I object to being called a nigga'.
Cobb : 'Relax buddy, I wasn't talking about you'.

Wow. Just wow.

I think everything about this rings true. Have you ever seen Renaldo's bitching after he was stopped by Holmes, during the post fight interview? How many guys are so highly strung that they can still come to the brink of violence after the adrenaline/energy expended in a 10 round boxing match? Guys just don't fight after a fight, but Snipes went apeshit, it was weird the way he worked himself up into a frenzy. Easy to see him responding to Cobb's remark.
As far as I'm concerned it's so funny it deserves to be true, regardless!

Expug wrote:Cosel quit covering boxing after this. Said he was disgusted or some nonsense. Cobb said that he could discover a cure for cancer but his greatest accomplishment would still be getting Cosel out of boxing.

Another good quote by Cobbs was when he was told that Cosell would have nothing more to do with boxing since his fight with Holmes was not stopped, Cobb said "I'll fight Holmes again if it will get Cosell off of Monday Night Football".

My favorite quote by Cobb was in the 80's when the AMA was hot to try and have boxing banned in the US....so when it was brought to his attention that the AMA had likened boxing to cockfighting and called for its abolition, Cobb replied, "My initial response is that I truly wished that while boxing I was as dangerous with my hands as some medical people who make a living with their hands. If boxing killed one-hundredth of the people who die on an operating table, through inadequacies and inefficiencies, then boxing should be banned. But first, I'd like to compare body counts"

JMac wrote:

Expug wrote:Cosel quit covering boxing after this. Said he was disgusted or some nonsense. Cobb said that he could discover a cure for cancer but his greatest accomplishment would still be getting Cosel out of boxing.

Another good quote by Cobbs was when he was told that Cosell would have nothing more to do with boxing since his fight with Holmes was not stopped, Cobb said "I'll fight Holmes again if it will get Cosell off of Monday Night Football".

My favorite quote by Cobb was in the 80's when the AMA was hot to try and have boxing banned in the US....so when it was brought to his attention that the AMA had likened boxing to cockfighting and called for its abolition, Cobb replied, "My initial response is that I truly wished that while boxing I was as dangerous with my hands as some medical people who make a living with their hands. If boxing killed one-hundredth of the people who die on an operating table, through inadequacies and inefficiencies, then boxing should be banned. But first, I'd like to compare body counts"

One time during his career he and a buddy of his got into a barroom brawl with a bunch of guys and Cobb got a busted arm or wrist.
The details are sketchy,but words were exchanged between Cobb and some guy who left and came back with some buddies and they were wielding baseball bats.
The funny part is when they all walked in the door with bats,Randall looked at his buddy and said,"Gee,I hope thats the softball team".

Cobb was pretty darned articulate for a guy who made his name taking a gazillion punches to the head

Some of the best/funniest boxing quotes I've read come from him.

Expug wrote:
One time during his career he and a buddy of his got into a barroom brawl with a bunch of guys and Cobb got a busted arm or wrist.
The details are sketchy,but words were exchanged between Cobb and some guy who left and came back with some buddies and they were wielding baseball bats.
The funny part is when they all walked in the door with bats,Randall looked at his buddy and said,"Gee,I hope thats the softball team".

Actually I am familiar with that story. I was living in Philly at the time and it was in the newspaper. Cobb was training at Fraziers gym then and was bouncing at a downtown bar. Cobb was protecting a local sports writer that got jumped by some guys from a tough blue collar neighborhood called Grays Ferry. Cobb got his forearm broke by a tire iron. He had to cancel his upcoming fight with Ernie Shavers because of the broken arm.

JMac wrote:

Expug wrote:
One time during his career he and a buddy of his got into a barroom brawl with a bunch of guys and Cobb got a busted arm or wrist.
The details are sketchy,but words were exchanged between Cobb and some guy who left and came back with some buddies and they were wielding baseball bats.
The funny part is when they all walked in the door with bats,Randall looked at his buddy and said,"Gee,I hope thats the softball team".

Actually I am familiar with that story. I was living in Philly at the time and it was in the newspaper. Cobb was training at Fraziers gym then and was bouncing at a downtown bar. Cobb was protecting a local sports writer that got jumped by some guys from a tough blue collar neighborhood called Grays Ferry. Cobb got his forearm broke by a tire iron. He had to cancel his upcoming fight with Ernie Shavers because of the broken arm.

He was fighting Earnie Shavers again? Unbelievable.

I think it was a fight with Mike Weaver for one of the belts that was cancelled after the bar room fight.

I only remember him from the movies. Loved Uncommon Valor, the Vietnam rescue film with Gene Hackman. I always remember the fight he has with Patrick Swayze's character. Very funny!

I suspect most of the stories are true. There was one I had heard about him shooting flaming arrows off the roof of his dorm when he was at Abilene Christian and how he drug a frightened underclassman up to help. I actually met the guy (who is now a CofC pulpit minister) who was drafted to help him and heard the story retold from the first person. He shook his head at all the trouble Cobb got into back at ACU.