John Tate vs Duane Bobick in a ten round non-title heavyweight bout

Date: February 17, 1979

Venue: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana

Tate stance: orthodox

Bobick stance: orthodox

When he turned pro in 1977, John Tate seemed destined for a great career. He had done well as an amateur, winning the bronze in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. Tate's handlers moved him along quite quickly, and by the time he faced Bobick he was 17-0 with 14 KOs. His best win so far, was against the then-unbeaten contender Bernardo Mercado. Tate seemed to possess all the physical attributes of a future heavyweight star - he was 6'4", around 235lb and had an 80" reach. Tate also had very good all round boxing skills, and decent power.

There were one or two signs from his amateur days that Tate's chin might let him down. Cuba's Teofilo Stevenson stopped Tate in the first round of their Olympic semi final bout.

Duane Bobick had also enjoyed success as an amateur, beating Teofilo Stevenson and Larry Holmes. He turned pro in 1973, and won his first 38 fights. Some critics later dismissed Bobick as a Great White Hope with a padded record, but those 38 fights included a knockout of future WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, plus wins Randy Neumann, Scott LeDoux and Chuck Wepner.

In his 39th fight, Bobick was stopped in under a minute by Ken Norton. He beat LeDoux again in a rematch, and also stopped Pedro Agosto. In his next fight, Bobick was beaten up by Kallie Knoetze in South Africa. Bobick then won eight consecutive fights against rather ordinary opposition before his bout with Tate.

For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:

John Tate - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/430

Duane Bobick - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/15810