I'd have to study the form on this one myself, to be honest. Right now, I wouldn't back a likely winner with any degree of confidence.
I remember those types of headline. One in particular, questioned whether it was too early to compare Curry with Hagler's greatness. The obvious answer was - Yes.
I remember that also. HBO did that after McCrory, which was a great win, but Milton was not that great a fighter in retrospect.. I am still surprised how Curry fell apart with Lloyd. It was a domino thing where they just kept falling. I always thought Curry losing to Lloyd was more Lloyd than people give it credit for, far more than Buster beat Mike Tyson. I think Lloyd was a solid guy with fast hands and a decent punch and high energy. It worked well against Donald's crouch.But they sure overrated Donald as HBO has done before with other guys.
I remember one of the boxing mags writers of that era wrote Curry was not only better than Leonard, but could give R.Robinson a helluva a fight after the McCrory fight. Boy didn't that writer jump the gun. ( Like quite a few on this web site writing Lomo is better than Duran,Whitaker, etc, ) Curry vs Cuevas is a hard fight to have a good feel for. Esp when looking back in hindsight at their careers. Curry had all the tools to handle Cuevas. BUT! Cuevas biggest losses was to Hearns and Duran. Two of the best fighters in history at welter. I could easily see Curry winning the early rds impressively only to get starched by Cuevas sometime after 8 or 9 rds. Esp if what was reported has any truth and Curry was having a hard time getting down to welter, where that weight fit Cuevas like a glove.
Espada 3 is one of my favorite Cuevas fights. Angel could box and was a sharp puncher and Pipino completely dismantled him over the first nine rounds before taking him out. It’s competitive early but less and less so as Cuevas’ punishment takes a toll. I actually thought of that fight when mulling Cuevas-Curry and figure Pipino does a similar job of breaking his man down in a competitive fight and taking him out with that left-hook hammer between rounds 10 and 12.
Curry was indeed a great boxer. Against Mccallum when he wasnt even at his best he wad picking Mike apart. And dont give me that Mike set up that hook-simply isnt true . Curry has a swelling on his eye and had his chin up to see better. Got caught pulling backwards from a punch. Rosi always troubled everyone. A shot Curry dismantled him. Curry listened to the wrong people. He should have moved up after Mccroy- he was walking around at LIGHTHEAVY between fights. Funny story- after Honeyghan had lost his title and wasnt the draw he once was he was offered a Curry rematch for SIX FiGURES- i believe it was around 300k. Keep in mind Curry wasnt in his prime either at this time but still had the name . Honeyghan TURNED the fight down.
Oh I dunno, I have no problem believing that. Simon Brown apparently had to boil away 30 pounds before the McGirt fight. According to him anyway. And it's well known that Duran weighed 320 pounds before he began training for that crafty, opportunistic Leonard in the rematch, who gave him only a week to shed the weight. Wasn't Duran's fault he lost, really.
I was thinking the same thing how this could happen, since Curry could not be hit by Cuevas that much and who could. and Donald was fast. So either way could happen.
I know he walked around with a bit of weight but i'm keen to find out a bit more. I know one guy in his camp claimed he was 168 coming into the Honeyghan camp and that Cobra has referenced a Mills Lane book before. I think it'd be mildly exaggerated tho. If Duran limited himself to 280 he coulda been champ again.
I never saw him picking Mike apart. I saw Mike had the advantage in power, and Donald in speed, but Mike was winning the exchanges with a little bigger punches. And the swelling I tried to figure how that happened, and I noticed Mike was jabbing Donald well and it could have been as simple as the jab. The hook Mike landed? It almost did look like not a set up, but that he did see him backing up and dropping his hands. Because Mike committed in a way that he knew what to do. In round 4 Mike was sort of backing him up and sort of starting to take over, even though HBO didn't mention it. And lightheavyweight. I don't see how Donald was ever a lightheavyweight. Too small. I don't know what weight Donald should have come in , but he was never that great anywhere but welterweight.