Word: bobo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Hawaii's Carl ("Bobo") Olson and England's Randy Turpin have much in common. Both are 25-year-old middleweights who learned their fighting in slum streets, both have been boxing since their early teens, and both have suffered stinging defeats at the fists of Sugar Ray Robinson, now retired. Last week, in Madison Square Garden, a sellout crowd of 18,869 turned out to watch Olson and Turpin fight for Robinson's old crown...
Turpin, a hard-punching, unrefined sort of fighter, started strong. He dashed out throwing punches, carried the fight to Olson for the first three rounds. Bobo, a clever boxer without a killing punch, backtracked nimbly, protected his head with his arms, and bided his time. As Turpin began to run out of steam-he had boxed less than 30 rounds in training -Bobo began his own offensive: a rat-tat-tat of light lefts and rights with just enough poke to them to keep Turpin off balance...
...ninth round, Bobo's spray of pokes had begun to slow Randy's reflexes. Turpin let himself get trapped against the ropes, and there, while Bobo poured hooks and jabs to the head and body, Turpin unaccountably covered up only his midsection. Randy went down for a short count at the end of that round, for a nine-count in the next...
There was no ten-count punch in the Olson armory, but well before the end of the 15 rounds, Bobo had the title on points. Before the ring announcer could begin his portentous spiel ("The winner . . . and new Middleweight Champion . . ."), Loser Turpin dashed across the ring with a big smile and wrung the hand of Winner Olson. The new champion promptly burst into tears of happiness...
Next day, without waiting for his $57,492 paycheck, Middleweight Olson, who complained all through training that he was homesick, flew off to his wife and four children in San Francisco. Before Bobo left, Turpin put the new champion (and indirectly himself) in proper boxing perspective: "This lad isn't in the same class with Robinson...