Bobick, LeDoux lend names to Target Center bout next month

     A heavyweight boxing match at Target Center in early December is getting a publicity boost from a pair of prominent Minnesota pugilists from the past.

1970s ring legends Scott LeDoux and Duane Bobick will be hand for next week's formal announcement of the Dec. 4 bout between the Twin Cities' Joey Abell (25-4, with 24 knockouts) and Raphael Butler (35-8, with 28 knockouts) of Rochester, Minn.

Promoters are aiming to draw nearly 10,000 for the fight.

In 1977, more than 9,000 fans gathered at the old Met Center and saw LeDoux and Bobick battle for state supremacy. Bobick won, knocking down LeDoux twice in the eighth round. A year earlier at the same venue, Bobick won in a unanimous decision. More than 13,000 were on hand for that clash.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482