When Honeyghan beat Curry

I see a prime Honeyghan beating Curry any day of the week. A lot gets made of Don's weight battles but he was struggling with that issue for several fights before he met Honeyghan.


Prior to their fight,like everyone else,I thought that Curry would be too good. He was the designated successor to Marvin Hagler as the best P4P,after all. On the morning of the bout,however,I read an interview with Honeyghan and he seemed so confident. I did wonder then whether an upset could occur

 

Honeyghan definitely had a tough style for Curry, with his quick feet, dangerous overhand right and unpredictable bursts of punches.

Curry as said had been struggling at the weight for a while and didn't look 100%, but the real issue for me was how tamely he gave up when it became clear Honeyghan was legit....instead of digging deep to try and rally and keep his titles, he just packed it in a few rounds later.

 

By this time Don Curry was a rather conceited boxer, starting to garner ink as the Heir apparent to Leonard and perhaps the one to ultimately move up and unseat Hagler, Perhaps this was the Scripes wishful thinking... the prospect of the Post Leonard - Duran- Hagler Era having no Obvious Talents to take over the Superstar Baton was probably a Scaring thought for the Industry... I think Don bought into this...

I dont think it was Don's weight making issues..so much as Lloyds Attitude, Don turned up like he was heading for another ceremonial execution...Lloyd he was determined on Dethorning the King.. Most of Don's opponents went to the Ring like they were headed to the Gallows..Not Lloyd ..He was Hell Bent on Revolution..Lloyds Big right hands, his Ability to roll inside.. Threw Don Off tremendously... Don was a Chandelier Fighter..Beautiful..Sparkling... So Lloyd turned up as a Hammer... Like a Rolls Royce caught in a Race with a Humvee... Lloyd the Humvee made sure the race was down a Dirt Back Road... No place for one so Stately... Dents in the Beautiful Bodywork lead to the Precision instrument being Junkyard Bound..
Don ..a Great "On Top" fighter never had the Trench Resilance of Leonard..

 

Bad match up for Curry, mostly. Surprising when it happened because Curry was so high profile compared with Honeyghan. (as he remains despite the h2h loss).

 

All good points as always lora. In addition to the assets you describe he had good reflexes, power, was very fit and could fight off the front and back foot...had it all really and at this point didn't have the gung-ho mentality that marred Lloyd's career as it went on.

I remember watching LH's pro debut and he was always a talent,

Honeyghan also brought a real "street", aggressive, don't give a sh*t, challenger's mentality to this fight, he wasn't intimidated in the slightest by Curry's rep, I remember him saying he was going to "smash Curry's face in"...I actually picked Lloyd before the fight, I felt Curry was a "plan A" fighter who had the same guard & style in most fights of his I had seen...I thought if plan A didn't work against a versatile fighter like Loyd Curry could be in trouble...and so it proved.

 

What I was trying to say but said much more eloquently and poetically...good stuff!

 

Honeyghan was a great character, i remember him talking about how he had gained superhuman punching power\abilities from the chernobyl radiation.

it was something like that anyway.

 

He was indeed...I met him a few times in the early 80s...completely different guy when the cameras weren't rolling, very polite and believe it or not humble with it.

 

Great thread so far, lads. Loving it.

Curry was a truly exceptional fighter.

 

a great win by honeyghan one of the biggest upsets of all time.
Strong rumours that curry had wanted to pull out of the fight but he was forced to go through with it against his will. He didn't look right or happy from the start. curry was special but the wheels fell off forever that night and full credit to honeyghan who was dynamite.

 

It was a combination of Honeyghan being on point, and Curry not having the proper training, and the evil one(Ray Leonard) messing up his mind set, Lol!

 

I believe there was a bit of a row at the final prezzer. L.H thought he was being disrespected because the writers were more or less ignoring him and asking Curry who was next, and Curry going along with it, rather than saying " Lets get this fight over with first " or words to that effect. I think you will find it ended with Lloyd saying " I'll see you in the ring Saturday night you c**t." I also think its fair to say he meant it.

 

Never heard this before.

Good post! :good

 

What a fantastic analogy!

Great post, in a great thread. :good