02.08.07 – By Ted Sares: Scott LeDoux was a road warrior out of Minnesota who fought the very best during the golden age of heavyweights in the 70s. Big boppers like Frazier, Ali, Quarry, Norton, Foreman, Shavers, Chuvalo, Terrell, Mike Weaver, Jeff Merritt, Mac Foster, Joe Bugner, Leroy Jones, Jimmy Young, and Jimmy Ellis, among many others, roamed the landscape.
Known as the ‘Fighting Frenchman,” he toiled at his trade from 1974 to 1983. During the earlier part of his career, he met Roy “Cookie” Wallace, Rodney Bobick, Terry Daniels, George “Scrap Iron” Johnson, Ron “The Butcher” Stander and Larry Middleton. Aside from a cut eye stoppage to Cookie Wallace in 1975, Scott ran his record to a fine 18-1-1 going into a bout against rugged Duane Bobick, 34-0 coming in.
The fight between these two Minnesota born fighters was held at the Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, MN on April 22, 1976.The attendance was a record 13,789. LeDoux lost a UD and then went on to lose to tough John “Dino” Dennis, 27-0-1, at the time, and Big George Foreman, 42-1 coming in.
After “losing” to Johnny Boudreaux, 19-1-1, in a horrendous decision that prompted a grand jury investigation, he stepped up the level of opposition. He beat Pedro Soto and Tom Prater before losing a rematch to Duane Bobick, 38-1. Then, after consecutive draws with Leon Spinks and Bill Sharkey, LeDoux ran off four KOs including a stoppage of tough “Big Jim” Beattie, 41-7.
Amazingly, LeDoux moved the level of opposition even higher meeting Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Mike Weaver, undefeated Marty Monroe, and then Larry Holmes, 34-0, in 1980 for the WBC Heavyweight Title. After his stoppage loss to Holmes, he would go on to fight Greg Page, Gerrie Coetzee, Gordon Racette, Ken Arlt, and then closed out his career in 1983 with a TKO loss to rugged Frank Bruno in London.
His final slate was 33-13-4 but more significantly, he fought seven opponents who were heavyweight champion of the world at some point in their career. He also fought top contenders on their home turf. He fought tough guys because he was a tough guy during an era of tough heavyweights. “If I’m gonna fight in the alley, I want LeDoux with me.” Pat Summerall once said.
If Minnesota has a Boxing Hall of Fame, I am sure Scott is in it. More importantly, he has been a credit to the sport and one hellava boxing commentator on ESPN2.
“I beat Rodney [Bobick] in a 10 rounder. I also beat him once as an amateur. Then I beat him as a pro. Then I lost to Duane [Bobick], and there was a period there when I had three losses in a row and everybody was bad mouthing me saying I couldn’t fight. I said wait a minute — these guys got a combined record of like 104-1 and the only loss was Foreman’s to Ali. It’s not like I’m in bad company here.” [Scott was referring to his losses to Duane Bobick, Dino Dennis, and George Foreman.] THE CYBER BOXING ZONE JOURNAL, April 2000