http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/402239-best-ive-faced-michael-nunn BEST SKILLS – Donald Curry: He was wise and sharp. This is a tough one because I came across a lot of good boxers on the way up the ladder. BEST JAB – Frank Tate: He had a great jab, so I had to stay on top of him from the first round. I won the middleweight championship of the world after a long, hard fight. BEST DEFENSE – Marlon Starling: To this day, Starling is still asking for a rematch. He was a crafty little man, who was hard to catch cleanly with big shots. BEST CHIN – lran Barkley: You could hit the guy with a hammer and he was going nowhere. I landed everything I had and he said, ‘Is that all you’ve got, Nunn?’ BEST PUNCHER – Juan Roldan: He was the strongest puncher I faced in my career. FASTEST HANDS – Carl Jones: He was from Los Angeles and had me down in the first round. FASTEST FEET – Jones: The only thing faster than Jones’ feet were his hands. SMARTEST – James Toney: I have to admit, looking back, James Toney was a smart guy in the ring. STRONGEST – Barkley: For a middleweight, Barkley was exceptionally strong. It was like pounding on a heavyweight. After the weigh-in, he must have gained an extra 20 pounds. BEST OVERALL – Curry: The best overall game belonged to Donald Curry. He could do a bit of everything.
Knox, Geraldo and Ramos were very, very good pre-world title opponents Nunn brushed aside. Nunn seemed to brush everyone aside, pre-R11 against Toney, with the exception of Iran Barkley.
One of the most naturally talented fighters ever and one of my favourites. I'd have loved for the Boxing Gods to have matched Nunn against McCallum!
Toney made a nice little comeback from the 8th round on. Still losing on points, but he was getting to Nunn with good shots from the 8th on. With this fight and Foreman-Moorer, I was surprised by how many good shots Foreman and Toney landed throughout. With Toney it was mostly the previous 3 rounds before the KO, with Foreman it was throughout. Losing on points but still landing heavy shots.
That's interesting that he rated Donald as the best overall. I remember watching that fight on either showtime or HBO back around 1990-1991. Think it was held in France or something. Curry gave a decent account of himself and there was a lot of good sportsmanship in that fight. Donald slipped to the canvas at one point and Nunn went to try and help him up, prompting approval from the crowd for gentleman like behavior.. At the end of the day, Nunn was just too big and strong which is precisely what Curry said at the end of it.. Donald was a great fighter despite his short tenure as a world class entity. And while he didn't last, what he gave us was certainly sweet.
I don't know... With Barkley there was actual "action". Iran was going after him with real shots. Starling and Nunn looked looked like they were having a pillow fight in there... One of the most boring fights I ever watched in my youth.
For sure, Nunn-Starling was dreadful. But I remember thinking that Nunn clearly outclassed Barkley in most rounds while landing the cleaner punches and that most of Iran's aggression was really ineffective. I may need to rewatch it though. I was surprised by the scorecards in both fights (for the opposite reasons).
Seems like a helluva long stretch for one kilo of coke. Comedic actor Tim Allen got caught with the same amount and got two years. Guess it's easy to tell who rolls and who doesn't.