Curtis Cokes vs Charley Shipes

Generally regarded as the undisputed world welterweight champion, Curtis Cokes settled the disputed ownership of the championship by stopping Charley Shipes in the eighth round at the Oakland Arena on October 2, 1967. Cokes was recognised by the WBA, WBC, New York State Athletic Commission and The Ring, while the California commission regarded Shipes as its world champion. The meeting was therefore more than an ordinary defence. Cokes entered with a record of 46 wins, nine defeats and three draws; Shipes, boxing near his Oakland base, had lost only once in 34 contests and had remained unbeaten for more than four years.

Cokes had won the vacant championship from Manuel Gonzalez in August 1966 and strengthened his claim by outpointing Jean Josselin over 15 rounds. He had since stopped François Pavilla in ten rounds. Shipes brought a record of 31-1-2 and the support of the local crowd, but he was confronted by a champion of greater reach, accuracy and punching authority. Cokes was a deliberate boxer who remained balanced while delivering his blows, and his straight right hand became the governing punch of the contest.

Shipes began energetically and tried to reach the champion’s body with his left. He sought to carry the attack, hoping to prevent Cokes from settling at long range. Cokes did not contest every exchange in the opening rounds. He watched Shipes carefully, used the jab to measure him and waited for the challenger to move within reach. Shipes had moments while he was fresh, but his forward movement increasingly exposed him to Cokes’s right hand.

The first decisive break came in the fourth round. Cokes caught Shipes cleanly with a right and put him down. The Californian regained his feet and continued with determination, but the knockdown established the difference in power and timing. Cokes was not wasteful in following up. He returned to his measured boxing, made Shipes lead and looked for the same opening rather than exhausting himself in a hurried attempt to finish matters.

Shipes continued pressing in the fifth, but he was now taking harder punches than he was landing. In the sixth, another right from Cokes sent him to the floor for the second time. Once again Shipes rose and attempted to fight his way back into the contest. His courage was evident, although his defence had begun to loosen and his attacks were becoming easier for Cokes to read. The champion remained composed, stepping away from the rushes and answering with straight punches through the centre.

Cokes maintained control through the seventh and entered the eighth with Shipes worn down but still willing. The challenger tried to renew his attack, yet he could no longer get inside without being met. Cokes dropped him early in the round and, after Shipes had risen, resumed his accurate right-hand punching. A further heavy right to the head put Shipes down for the fourth time in the fight. The contest was stopped at 1 minute 37 seconds of the eighth round, giving Cokes a technical-knockout victory in a bout scheduled for 15 rounds.

The result left no basis for California’s separate championship claim. Shipes had given an honest performance before his home support, but Cokes had proved the superior man in every important department. He had allowed the challenger to make the early running, found the opening for his right hand and then exploited it without abandoning his balance or defensive position. Shipes afterwards described Cokes as the best fighter he had faced and singled out the champion’s right hand. Four knockdowns and a stoppage inside eight rounds provided sufficient evidence for that judgment.

In my opinion, Curtis Cokes was seriously underrated. He rarely appears in conversations about the great welterweights, yet he was a beautifully balanced fighter with an educated jab and one of the straightest right hands of his generation. He had beaten Manuel Gonzalez for the vacant title, outpointed Jean Josselin and stopped François Pavilla before meeting Charley Shipes.

Shipes was far better than his limited recognition suggests. He had gone more than four years without defeat, and the California commission regarded him as world champion. Fighting near home, he started positively, working towards Cokes and looking to the body. That approach gave the crowd something to support, but it also brought him directly onto Cokes’s best punch.

Once Cokes found the range, the difference became obvious. He put Shipes down in the fourth and sixth rounds with right hands, yet never became reckless chasing the finish. That is what impressed me. He stayed behind his boxing, kept his feet underneath him and waited for the opening to appear again.

Two further knockdowns followed in the eighth before the contest was stopped. Shipes was brave and came to win, but he was thoroughly beaten. Cokes settled the argument over California’s separate title recognition and did it decisively. It was a proper champion’s performance: controlled, accurate and ruthless without wasting a punch.