Todd Foster

ShoeShine · Post by **ShoeShine** » 29 Jul 2005, 10:58

Anybody remember this kid, I remember him when he was an amatuer he had a nice punch, never heard much else from him after he turned pro.

barry · Post by **barry** » 29 Jul 2005, 12:02

I remeber watching a few of his fights. He was coming on fairly well until he stepped up and took on Jimmy Paul, which was on the old USA Tuesday night fights.

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 29 Jul 2005, 14:22

He was huge in Montana; I lived there from 2001 -2003 and he was still a name. By the way, his biography sets a standard. It simply has to be the worst thing ever written; I refuse to entertain the notion that anything could somehow be worse. He punched well especially to the body but I don't believe that he ever avoided a punch on purpose and I don't think anyone ever told him that such efforts are legitimate in boxing. And he busted up

ShoeShine · Post by **ShoeShine** » 29 Jul 2005, 14:51

tiredoldngrey wrote:He was huge in Montana; I lived there from 2001 -2003 and he was still a name. By the way, his biography sets a standard. It simply has to be the worst thing ever written; I refuse to entertain the notion that anything could somehow be worse. He punched well especially to the body but I don't believe that he ever avoided a punch on purpose and I don't think anyone ever told him that such efforts are legitimate in boxing. And he busted up

hehehehe whats was so bad about his autobiography?? Didnt he make the olympic team, if he didnt he came close..I know he went to the trials.

locoxelbox · Post by **locoxelbox** » 29 Jul 2005, 17:08

He beat Charles Murray and went to the 1988 Olympics. I think he lost to a Korean but I'm not sure.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 29 Jul 2005, 19:53

As a native of Todd Foster's hometown, Great Falls, Montana,
I was unhappy about the fact that he go all of the way in the
Olympics and as a professional boxer. It was fun seeing him
in action due to the fact that he was a busy, aggressive fighter.
At the same time, he had a nice boxing style even if he had
some flaws.

Think about Virgil Hill's popularity in North Dakota and you get
the idea how Montanans turned out to see Foster in action.
But unlike Hill, Foster fell short when he fought top fighters.
He was stopped by both Jimmy Paul and Hector Camacho.

- Chuck Johnston

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 30 Jul 2005, 20:44

Like Todd Foster, Ryan Leaf is from Great Falls, Montana. Both
also failed to get to the top in their respective sports on the
professional level. But Foster seems like a nice guy who is
well-liked in Montana while Leaf's surly personality has made
him a pariah.

- Chuck Johnston

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 30 Jul 2005, 23:19

Great Falls is a good place to live; I have family there. I was living in Butte when the promoter there Mr LeCoure (Bob I think) started that 'semi-pro" (read: tough man) boxing series in several cities. That first 'season' was drawing 800-1000 people a week in a city of 30,000 and sizable groups followed the Butte fighters- the #s 1,2 HWs- to other cities. Foster sold out there as well. The point being that they really like boxing there all the way back to the Ketchel days

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 31 Jul 2005, 01:43

As a kid, I lived in both the vicinity of both Belt and
Great Falls before my family moved to California in
the early 1960s. To put it mildly, I had a case of
culture shock when I started to live in California.

Yes, there was quite a bit of boxing activity in Montana
over the years, especially in Butte when the mines were
going great guns. Moreover, there were a number of
fighters from Montana.

Take a look at a list of Montana fighters besides Todd
Foster and Marvin Camel. They include Joe Simonich,
Ritchie Fontaine, Hubert "Kid" Dennis, Ford Smith,
Frankie Wine, Al Webster, Montana Jack Sullivan,
Montana Dan Sullivan, Pete Bross, Dixie Lahood,
Al Rossberg, Jimmy Lundy, Leo Bens, Mose
La Fontise, Sid La Fontise, Marine Raineri,
Jimmy McCusker, Walter Rooney, Ike Hayes, Con Orem,
and Roger Rouse. Although both Jim Barry and Frank
Rowsey were born in Montana, I don't think either boxer
fought in their native state. Moreover, Stanley Ketchell
may have born in Michigan, but his boxing career started
in Montana.

By the way...take a look at the records of the listed fighters
on BoxRec. Yes, a number of the fighters have worse
win-loss records than Todd Foster, but I don't think that
Foster fought as many good fighters as Joe Simonich,
Ritchie Fontaine, Roger Rouse, or even Marvin Camel
faced during their respective careers. In fact, Fontaine
won a decision in a ten-round bout with Henry Armstrong.
I don't think that Foster could beat Armstrong on his
best day. In other words.....Foster was far from being
the best fighter from Montana.

- Chuck Johnston

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 31 Jul 2005, 10:24

I was fortunate enough, many years ago, to meet Simonich at a gathering at my aunt's home in Butte. Roger Rouse seemed to be very tough to beat in Anaconda and Butte; I think he was undefeated at home. If you are familiar with Butte boxing history but the "red barn" in Walkerville was practically in my back yard. And don't forget Tally Johns and Sonny O'Day.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 05 Aug 2005, 19:55

A very durable fighter, Joe Simonich fought just about every top welterweight of the 1920s. He was the best-known fighter
from Montana during that period although Al Webster, Dixie
Lahood, and Frankie Wine were also well-known in boxing
circles at the time.

It is my understanding that Simonich saw action when he was
with the 91st Division during World War I. He would become
the welterweight champ of the division and was a second
lieutenaut at the end of the war. As a result, he was one
of several commissioned officers who went on to become
a professional fighter after the war. Others include Earl
Baird, Captain Bob Roper (I think), and Mickey Shannon.

I found out that Jack Reeves, a middleweight/light-heavyweight
who was based in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1910s
and 1920s, was born in Chestnut, Montana.

- Chuck Johnston

Seamus · Post by **Seamus** » 05 Aug 2005, 22:39

I'll forever remember Todd Foster as the guy who knocked out his South Korean opponent at the 1988 Olympics when the latter dropped his guard after hearing the bell ending the round in the adjacent ring. The Korean stayed down for the count, but was then given a reprieve and the fight with Foster was rescheduled in it's entirety. Foster won again, this time by decision I believe, but then said he was tired from the extra fight when he lost in the next round to an East German fighter.

locoxelbox · Post by **locoxelbox** » 06 Aug 2005, 02:01

Yeah, you're right. I had forgotten about that bout. I did some research and found that Foster beat future WBA champ Khalid Rahilou in his first olympic bout by KO 2. He then beat Jin Chul Chun by KO 2 and in the quarters he lost to Graham Cheney, AUS by 3-2 dec.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 11 Aug 2005, 19:18

Remember Joe Hipp, the heavyweight who is a southpaw. He
is fighting on a card in Idaho this weekend. According to his
record, Hipp was born in Browning, Montana!

- Chuck Johnston

tiredoldngrey · Post by **tiredoldngrey** » 11 Aug 2005, 21:02

I had lunch in Browning once...

c.millss · Post by **c.millss** » 12 Aug 2005, 00:47

Foster reminds me of another tough 'B' fighter named Greg Haugen. I miss the days when these guys would always entertain on ABC(I think it was ABC). Neither quite had championship potential, but were game contenders. The olympic fight with the outside bell was Extremely bloody for an amatuer bout by the way.

Chuck1052 · Post by **Chuck1052** » 12 Aug 2005, 01:09

At the pro level, I believe that Greg Haugen was better than
Todd Foster. Haugen was a tough and capable fighter with
decent ring skills.

- Chuck Johnston

c.millss · Post by **c.millss** » 12 Aug 2005, 01:21

mutt had a great rubbermatch with Paz that is very underrated. The Camacho series is lame, but at least he fought sweatpea and Chavez, who both put him back down to earth. You are right now that I think of it Foster was not in haugen's class.

Ambox · Post by **Ambox** » 12 Oct 2005, 23:59

locoxelbox wrote:Yeah, you're right. I had forgotten about that bout. I did some research and found that Foster beat future WBA champ Khalid Rahilou in his first olympic bout by KO 2. He then beat Jin Chul Chun by KO 2 and in the quarters he lost to Graham Cheney, AUS by 3-2 dec.

I never did see the Graham Cheney bout against Todd Foster (maybe NBC didn't air it), but just the highlights from an Seoul Olympic Boxing tape, and it looked (and sounded) like Todd was actually getting outslugged by Graham, includng a knockdown of Todd by a left hook in the third round. It sure looked like Todd was gassed, either from the debacle with the 2 bouts with the Korean, or from Graham wearing him down with good power shots, or both.

Todd Foster

Todd Foster

re

Todd Foster

Todd Foster

Great Falls

Joe Simonich, Jack Reeves, Etc.

Another Montana Born Fighter

Greg Haugen, Todd Foster