By Ted Sares: Dee “Denorvell” Collier fought out of California during the 80’s and finished with a modest record of 12 (KO 8) – 9 (KO 1). He had a great chin and excellent power. His problem seemed to be that the level of his opposition might have been too good too quickly. Fighting guys like Buster Douglass, Monte Masters, Alex Garcia, Mark Wills and Eric Curry was not exactly tantamount to cherry picking. His one KO loss was to Nigerian bomber Bash Ali who won 30 of his last 31 bouts (all but one by way of stoppage), but who had a knack for losing when he stepped up..
Dee’s last career fight was a UD loss to Orlin Norris for the NABF heavyweight title on August 1, 1989. He went into that fight having iced Monte Masters, Bobby Crabtree and Garcia (his first loss) over a 6-month period. He also held two prior wins over Mark Wills who himself had stopped Greg Page twice. Clearly, Collier, who once had been the California State Heavyweight Champion, was not one to be taken lightly.
1985
Which brings us back to Reseda, California on October 29, 1985 when a younger Dee met iron-chinned Tex Cobb, 25-6 coming in, but having lost his last three to Eddie Greg, Michael Dokes (by TD), and Buster Douglass (MD loss).
The word was that if Cobb could score an impressive win over Collier, he might be in line for title bout against the heavyweight champion, Michael Spinks. Collier was seen as nothing more than an obscure club fighter and Cobb was heavily favored to score a decisive win. After all, Collier was coming off the aforementioned KO loss to Ali and a PTS loss to journeyman Mike Jameson.
But someone forgot to tell the 6’4’’ Collier who, once the bell rang, immediately used Cobb as a punching bag and knocked out the rugged Texan after a severe battering. Cobb’s legendary iron chin turned to glass in plain sight, as he became a human yo-yo and hit the deck 4 times within 2 minutes and 31 seconds of the fight. This was an old fashioned Texas dry-gulch with Tex being the ambushee. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and never had a chance.
Later
After a two-year retirement, Cobb went on the heartland circuit and closed out his career (interrupted by another retirement) by going undefeated in his last 20 outings, though against poor opposition. One, a NC with Sonny Barch, became the subject of much controversy but that’s a story for another day. Suffice it to say that of his last 20 wins, 16 came by stoppage and he closed his career with a fine 43 (KO 36) – 7 (KO 1) -1-1 mark. As for Collier, he went 5-5 after the Cobb win, but he fough against much better opposition.
To this day, Tex Cobb remains a great fan favorite and a virtual legend in his own time, but a guy named Collier just kind of faded away. Yet for the many who worship at the Shrine of Cobb, let there be no doubt that he had his lunch eaten in Reseda on October 29, 1985 and the guy who did the eating should get his due as well.