Remember the Heavyweight Boxers of the 1970’s

Alfredo Evangelista

Record: 62-13-4  43 KOs

From Montevideo, Uruguay 


Nickname:  "The Lynx of Montevideo"


From Wiki:

Evangelista was a good boxer who went undefeated in his first fifteen matches. One of those was a draw but the rest were wins. For his sixteenth fight he was defeated by European Champion Lorenzo Zanon, and after the fight faced Muhammad Ali in a bout for the world heavyweight championship in 1977, losing by unanimous decision in 15 rounds.

After these fights he had nine straight victories. He then fought against Larry Holmes for the World Boxing Council title in 1978, and lost by knockout in the seventh round. Evangelista followed this up by three wins and a loss to Lorenzo Zanon in their rematch. He drew with Felipe Rodriguez and moved on.

He won seven fights before meeting and losing to Leon Spinks, who had beaten Muhammad Ali. He won six more, then drew with Felipe in their second fight. He took two wins before getting bested by Greg Page. Evangelista had a six-fight streak of no losses, with five wins and one draw piled in there. This streak ended at the hands of Lucien Rodriguez. He won four fights until Hughroy Currie overcame him. Evangelista then had a win streak of eight before getting beaten by Steffen Tangstad. Patrick Lumumba bested him after Evangelista pulled off two more wins. He won a fight before three straight losses, and after another win retired.


Evangelista was a streaky fighter.  He would win several matches and then lose a match or then drop a few matches in a row.   

I think the Ali fight may have been on Wide World of Sports. 

Alfredo Evangelista is still alive, and he is 68 years old. 

Who was the guy (early 80s) and (I don't think he was a heavyweight) that was locked up?


Bouts from Rahway prison on Wide World Of Sports is what I remember

James Scott, a light heavy. I remember those bouts too.

James Scott 

James Scott was a Light-Heavyweight. 


Record: 19-2-1   11 KOs

Nickname: Great 




Frim Wiki:


James Scott became the second-highest-ranked contender in the World Boxing Association's (WBA) light heavyweight division while incarcerated at Rahway State Prison in Avenel, New Jersey. Scott fought a total of 22 professional fights. Eleven of those fights were contested while he was in prison, and Scott earned pay and WBA rankings from many of those fights, which was considered controversial.


In March 1976, James Scott was found guilty of armed robbery, but the jury was hung on the murder charge. As Scott was a repeat offender, judge Ralph L. Fusco sentenced him to 30 to 40 years in prison. Initially imprisoned at Trenton, he was transferred to Rahway State Prison on May 27, 1977. He was assigned the inmate number 57735.


At Rahway, the prison warden was Robert Hatrak, who had a reputation considered controversial for sympathy toward inmates and an openness toward rehabilitation.  Several programs aimed at rehabilitation were operated by Hatrak, including vocational training such as automotive repair and barbershop skills, as well as a singing group and a "scared straight" program.  He then conceived of a boxing program, not simply for recreation but where inmates could train to be fighters, corner men, referees, and cutmen as a profession. Upon hearing that Scott was being transferred to Rahway, Hatrak planned to partner with him to utilize Scott's connections in the sport.  Scott was placed in charge of the new Rahway State Boxing Association. Inmates in the program received pay and credit toward a reduction of their sentence or parole.

Scott's training regimen at Rahway was intense, and other inmates trained with him as well. He would begin by running for an hour every morning in the prison yard; according to one inmate, he was so focused that he would not break formation with the inmates running with him. He would then do a thousand pushups. According to Dickens, who was now serving time in Rahway with Scott, he estimated in 1978 that Scott had run nearly 900 miles in total, performed 51,000 pushups, 16,000 situps, and completed his daily routine with speed bag and heavy bag training. Scott would also spar with inmates and others as part of the program, but problems were found in locating sparring partners. Trenton State Prison's heavyweight champion was brought to Rahway to spar, only to have Scott break three of his ribs. Dave Lee Royster, who fought Scott to a draw in Miami and was an outside visitor, was knocked out by him during sparring and did not return.

Seeing the progress of the boxing program, Hatrak extended an offer to Scott to allow him to continue his professional boxing career if he could secure a promoter.  However, Scott could not receive temporary release from the prison for fights unless he was a minimum-security prisoner, so all of the fights would have to take place at the prison. Scott began making phone calls and writing letters, including to promoters Bob Arum and Don King.  An inmate at Rahway reached out to Murad Muhammad, a boxing promoter. Muhammad came to Rahway and met with Scott, and marveled at his physique. According to Muhammad, he asked Scott if he could fight, and Scott answered, "Yes, I can fight. Can you promote?" Muhammad identified Scott's skill at body punching and called him "the Great Scott", his boxing nickname.  Muhammad arranged Scott's two first professional bouts in Rahway, both of which were not televised. In those fights, Scott defeated Diego Roberson and Fred Brown by knockouts. For the Brown fight, Scott earned $600.

Muhammad began work on a major fight for Scott against Eddie "The Flame" Gregory, who was then the World Boxing Association (WBA) number 1 light heavyweight contender. As Rahway's prison auditorium would only hold 450 people, Muhammad needed to find a television network willing to host the fight, so he went to HBO. According to HBO's sports department head at the time, Dave Meister, he found the idea of the fight at Rahway "both off-putting and intriguing and enticing".[9] In addition to securing HBO, Muhammad offered $15,000 to Gregory for the fight, while Scott was scheduled to make $2500.[4] Gregory was lined up to make money from this fight in preparation for a bout against WBA light heavyweight champion Mike Rossman

Though initially scheduled to be 10 rounds, the bout was set for 12 rounds only five days before the fight.  On fight day, October 12, 1978, Rahway's auditorium was at full capacity, with an additional 1,150 inmates watching on screens in the drill hall. HBO Sports sent Don Dunphy, Larry Merchant, and Sugar Ray Leonard to commentate the fight.  Gregory was a 4:1 favorite in betting odds, while inmates bet cartons of cigarettes on similar lines. Scott came out swinging at the start of the fight, and made a bump under Gregory's eye in the fourth round. According to Scott, he then realized he had to pace himself because this fight was likely to go the full scheduled 12 rounds. During the last round, Gregory's corner screamed at him to go for a knockout. The bout ended without one and went to the judge's scores, where all three judges awarded the victory to Scott. 

After the fight, Scott called out Rossman. Rossman's father and manager, who was in attendance, said, "It's going to take an awful awful lot of money before I'll let my son in the same ring with that monster."  

Scott identified that money would be a factor in his ability to compete for a championship.[6] He received his first ranking from the WBA for the victory.


Following his bout with Gregory, Scott had fights hosted on national television. In his first fight after the win against Gregory, Scott defeated Richie Kates by TKO in the 10th round. When asked if he thought the referee did the right thing in stopping the fight, Scott said, "Yes, I do. I was trying to kill him." Scott earned $8000 for the fight, 10% of which was donated to a crime victims' fund.  A month after the Kates fight, Hatrak was reassigned and no longer was the warden at Rahway. The new warden, Sidney Hicks, was a guard who had pressed assault charges on Scott at Trenton State Prison for hitting another inmate with a pipe. Shortly after Hatrak was replaced, Scott hired an attorney with what money he had and appealed to be released on bail. This request was denied.

Scott was still allowed to fight professionally after Hatrak's departure. His next fight against Bunny Johnson, aired nationally on NBC, resulted in Scott winning by knockout in the seventh round. Johnson was the fifth choice for an opponent for Scott.  Ranked number 3, Scott knocked out Italian light heavyweight champion Ennio Cometti [it] at the end of the fifth round. In his entire career, at least four of Scott's professional bouts held in prison were broadcast by NBC Sports, two by CBS Sports and one by HBO.  ABC Sports declined to provide Scott with national television coverage due to his felony conviction and incarceration.  Scott was ranked as high as number 2 in the WBA rankings. However, he started to receive controversy on why he should be allowed to fight and make money while incarcerated. While Scott was paid for his fights, his earnings were sent to the New Jersey Department of Corrections, and he was given strict limitations on how he could use the money. Approved uses included hiring attorneys for his appeals and paying back his public defenders, donations to a crime victims' fund, and training expenses.  Scott said of the situation in a 1980 phone interview, "A lot of people resented the idea of my making money while I was in prison. They didn't feel I was being punished enough. What am I going to spend it on, anyway? People on the outside just want the people on the inside to be punished all the time."


Scott's next fight was scheduled for December 1, 1979, against Yaqui López, the WBA number 1 contender for the light heavyweight championship. Shortly before the fight, WBA light heavyweight champion Víctor Galíndez was stripped of the title, so Muhammad asked the WBA if Scott's fight with López could be a 15-round bout for the championship. Then, in September 1979, the WBA decided to reconsider whether Scott should have a ranking at all based on his criminal record.  The major concern at the WBA was the championship being held by someone in prison;  the competing WBC had never ranked Scott due to his incarceration.  According to boxing promoter Bob Arum, the WBA had only then found out that Scott's incarceration was scheduled for 30 to 40 years.  

The WBA removed Scott from its rankings in October 1979.  The vote on the issue was 60 to 1 in favor of removal with the lone vote for retention coming from New Jersey deputy boxing commissioner Bob Lee.  The WBA cited concerns that as an imprisoned convict, Scott did not set a "good example", and that his opponents were disadvantaged because they had to come to the prison for all of his bouts. Sports Illustrated questioned whether those were the real motives for removing Scott from the rankings, given that the same conditions had applied when the WBA had started to rank him the year before. Scott speculated that the removal of his ranking had to do with the influence of Arum on the WBA, and that Arum offered a contract to Scott in 1979 but Muhammad convinced Scott not to accept it. Scott blamed Muhammad for not looking out for his best interest, while Muhammad claimed that he had exclusive rights to Scott via an agreement with the Department of Corrections. Without being ranked, Scott was not allowed to compete for a championship. Afterward, the WBA reinstated Galíndez as the light heavyweight champion.

As a result of losing his ranking, Scott announced his retirement from boxing.  Nevertheless, Scott changed his mind shortly afterward and announced that he was "unretired" and would fulfill his contracts. His next fight was against Jerry Celestine, who he defeated by decision and claimed he was not trying to score a knockout to preserve his hand for a fight with López. After the fight, Scott spelled out his issues with Muhammad and discussed working with his lawyer for permission to fight outside Rahway.  Muhammad expressed support for Scott and a desire to continue to help him, as well as optimism that the WBA decision to strip his ranking would be overturned.

The next month, Scott fought López, and defeated him by decision in a fight broadcast on NBC. No knockdowns occurred in the bout, but Scott cut López open as early as the first round. After the match, Scott declared that he should be the number 1 contender and called out new WBA light heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson and WBC heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. López stated that he wanted a rematch.


He was released from prison on parole in 2005 after serving 28 years.

In his final years, Scott suffered from dementia and at the end of his life lived in a New Jersey nursing home. He died on May 8, 2018, at the age of 70.

Very good question. 

Duane Bobick


48-4 with 42 by KO. 

From Wiki:

While being an amateur Bobick served as a quartermaster in the U.S. Navy. He was a three-time Navy Heavyweight Champion, two-time All-Service Heavyweight Champion and two-time International Military champion.  He was touted as a rising star at this early stage, and may have been overconfident as he met Stevenson again at the 1972 Olympics. The fight was even after two rounds with Stevenson getting the edge in round one and Bobick rallying in round two. In the third round, Bobick fell victim to a nemesis that would bedevil him for the rest of his boxing career, the overhand right. Stunned, floored and eventually defenseless, Bobick was pounded by the Cuban champion until the bout was stopped; this was Bobick's last bout as an amateur.  By that time he had a record of 93 wins (60 by KO) and 10 losses

Bobick trained hard to start his pro career, which did not begin until the spring of 1973. He trained with and was managed by heavyweight legend Joe Frazier. Bobick's first match was against Tommy Burns. He sent Burns to the canvas four times on his way to a first-round KO. Bobick had 14 other fights in 1973, winning them all by KO, including a win over former contender Manuel Ramos. Bobick won his first 19 fights by knockout.

He had 10 more fights in 1974, winning them all again, eight by KO. Knockout wins that year included Ted Gullick and future champion Mike Weaver. He also decisioned veteran boxer Billy Daniels. With a 25–0 record and 23 KOs he was then rated as the sport's new "White Hope", taking that label from then-declining Jerry Quarry. Frazier himself was approaching retirement and focusing on upcoming paydays with protégé Bobick.

Bobick gained top-10 ranking in 1975 with eight more fights and wins, all again by KO. He was now being dodged by some, but a win over Randy Neumann proved he could not be ignored. He had a tentative contract with Muhammad Ali in 1976, but the fight never materialized. Instead he met and defeated lower ranked contender Larry Middleton, fellow Minnesotan Scott LeDoux, Bunny Johnson and veteran Chuck Wepner among his five 1976 fights, all wins with two KOs.

The Norton fight


Having a 38–0 record with 32 KOs he fought the future champion Ken Norton in a prime time network television bout in May 1977. Both fighters appeared tight and cautious from the opening bell. Norton suddenly connected with an unexpected overhand right flush onto Bobick's chin. He staggered wildly unable to clinch and avoid Norton's furious assault.

Norton trapped Bobick in a corner landing several roundhouse rights. One of the punches that connected was a right uppercut that caught Bobick in the throat. Staggered, blind from his tearing eyes as a result of the throat punch and walloped by another huge right hand, Bobick went to the canvas face first. He rose as the count reached ten. Bobick swayed on unsteady legs and the bout was stopped. The fight officially lasted just 58 seconds, but the actual length of the contest was about 70 seconds. Trainer Joe Frazier, who had previously sparred with Norton, apparently had advised Bobick not to take the fight.

Comeback


Despite the embarrassing defeat, Bobick was back in the ring two months later, winning a rematch with Scott LeDoux. He finished the year 1977 at 40–1 with 34 KOs.

In 1978, he was upset in the third round by South African Kallie Knoetze for his second KO loss, again falling victim to an overhand right. Cut over his right eye and floored, Bobick rose at the count of 8 but the fight was stopped. He fought eight more times against second-tier fighters in 1978, winning all by KO. 

He was then looking to return to top-level contention in 1979 securing a nationally televised bout with future belt-holder and Stevenson's 1976 Olympic KO victim John Tate. Bobick talked openly pre-bout of his new commitment to training and conditioning, citing reduced body fat statistics as proof of his seriousness to return to the top of the heavyweight ranks. Hurt early in the first round by an overhand right as in the Norton fight, Bobick couldn't clinch to clear his head and continued to move forward absorbing terrible punishment. A knockdown followed by a dozen overhand rights from Tate forced the referee to stop the bout a little over two minutes into the first round. A TKO loss (stopped due to deep cuts on both eyelids) to prospect George Chaplin later that year led to his retirement at age 28.