Curtis Cokes: How good was he?
Posted: 29 Jul 2008, 14:06
He fought lots of good and very great fighters. How good this guy was?
He was good, but falls short of being truly great IMO. He was a good technician with a good counter right hand. He tried several times to break into the big time throughout his career, but was usually foiled when he stepped up in class (such as in his losses to Jose Stable or Stanley Hayward), and retired each time, until he finally made one last go late in his career. His main claim to fame is that he had Luis Rodriguez's number, who was a genuine great welterweight IMO. The only other fighter that could beat a prime Luis was the great Emile Griffith.
After Griffith vacated his title, there was an elimination tournament that featured Luis, Cokes, and Manny Gonzalez. Most people figured the way was now open for Luis to succeed Griffith. Cokes was probably the lowest rated and least well regarded of the bunch at this time, but he scored a huge upset when he stopped Rodriguez in 15 rounds. Cokes ended up fighting Gonzalez for the vacant title, and winning. Ironically, Cokes had made his pro debut against Manny about a decade earlier, and the two were supposedly good friends.