Bob Cleroux

[BoztheMadman]

Just came across this name. He's another of the late 50's-early 60's generation of heavyweights that I have written a lot about. Bob Cleroux was a French-Canadian heavyweight contender who fought between 1957 and 1969. A very muscular and strong 6'1 heavyweight with power, he defeated George Chuvalo twice (and lost to him once) and also knocked out Roy Harris and Alex Miteff and decisioned Cleveland Williams and Willie Besmanoff. He was never stopped in 53 professional fights and retired with a record of 47 wins, 37 by ko, 6 losses and 1 draw.

 

He was born as Robert Cleroux 23 February 1938 in Laval, Quebec province of Canada. His fighting nickname was "Robert Abord-a-Plouffe Lion", Lion of Abord-a-Plouffe, his native village. He relocated to Montreal to become a boxer, first winning the 1956 Golden Gloves there. He turned pro in June 1957 with a TKO 4 against Ray Batey. Early on, his only blemish was a 6-round draw against slick Eddie Vick, which he then avenged with an 8-round decision victory. After going 12-0-1, he was upset against Buddy Turman 29 May 1959 at Madison Square Garden. Turman was 30-5 and beat him by a close majority decision in 8 rounds. He progressed after that and in his next fight at Madison Square Garden, 5 February 1960, he decisioned Willie Besmanoff in 10. Besmanoff was an experienced contender. On 27 July that year he had an even bigger success when he knocked out the solid contender Roy Harris in 5 rounds in Montreal. Less than a month later, 17 August, he faced his main Canadian rival George Chuvalo at the Delormier Stadium in Montreal for the Canadian title. There was an attendance of 18 thousand. The fight was even but Cleroux was the main aggressor throughout and forced the fight while Chuvalo mainly counterpunched. Both men bled slightly from the nose in the early rounds. In the end, 2 judges scored it for Cleroux and 1 for Chuvalo. Jersey Joe Walcott was the referee. However, 7 of 10 ringside reporters scored it for Chuvalo, which prompted a rematch.

 

But before that, Cleroux first settled the score with his first conqueror, Bud Turman and knocked Turman out in 2 on 26 October. The rematch with Chuvalo happened on 23 November of that same 1960, this time at the Forum in Montreal. This time Chuvalo had a better tactic and just lied back and picked his shots against the mauling Cleroux, in the end taking a UD with the scores of 57-53 twice and 55-53. Cleroux rebounded by stopping Harold Carter, who had once stopped Bob Satterfield, by knockout in 2 rounds. He then again faced Roy Harris and knocked him down three times to stop him in the 4th round by TKO. His next victim was Alex Miteff, a once highly rated and tough as nails Argentinian; the fight was stopped in round 7 due to a one inch gash over Miteff's right eye. It was then time for a rubbermatch against Chuvalo, on 8 August 1961, again at the Delormier Stadium. This arena proved to be lucky for Cleroux, as he once again bested the ultra-tough Chuvalo by SD. Cleroux threw Chuvalo to the canvas twice while Chuvalo wrapped his arm around him and banged to the back of his head five times. Yet, for all the rough antics, both men were virtually unmarked at the end of the 12-rounder. With that, Cleroux regained his Canadian title. He could now set his goals higher. He first defended his title by KO 3 against Cecil Gray before vacating it. He also stopped the Idaho-native George Logan, who had once gotten a disputed verdict against Alejandro Lavorante, by TKO 7 before facing the best fighter he has fought: Zora Folley. It was 18 April 1962 at Civic Auditorium in San Francisco; Cleroux's best round was the second, when he landed a series of blows which had Folley on the run. Otherwise, much like Chuvalo had done in their second fight, Folley used his jab and countered an onrushing Cleroux to win by a unanimous decision after 10 rounds. Cleroux was only given one round by one judge, somewhat unfairly.

 

Cleroux then scored one first round ko against a debutante before fighting against Mike DeJohn on 28 July in Miami Beach Auditorium; Cleroux was the 2-1 favorite but the taller DeJohn overcame his peek-a-boo defense and became the aggressor in the middle rounds but Cleroux came back and the two traded wildly till the end. DeJohn was awarded the decision after 10 rounds, 99-94, 96-94 and 95-94. The unofficial Associated Press scorecard read 97-94 for DeJohn. Cleroux then decisioned Tom McNeeley, who had been stopped recently in a world title fight by Floyd Patterson, by SD10 in Boston. He then beat some minor names before rematching Folley 23 May 1963, this time in Montreal. This time Folley completely dominated the fight and took home a shutout unanimous decision victory. Cleroux retired after this disappointment but came back 5 years later. His last hooray was decisioning the hard-hitting and experienced but unpolished Cleveland Williams by UD10 on 21 November 1968 in Montreal. He retired in 1969 after dropping a split decision to 9-5-3 Billy Joiner. He was 31.

 

Cleroux still lives in Montreal today and recently turned 80. He is one of the best French-Canadian heavyweights in history, if not the best. He was a capable puncher but was too unpolished technically to really make an impact in a time when heavyweights were smaller, faster and nimbler than today.