I doubt early. Barkley didnt punch like Jackson, and Graham wasnt super super fragile. But he wasnt tough enough to stand up to Barkley bull rushing him all night. Even Nunn had trouble with it, and Nunn was a level above Graham.
As I suspect the open poster knows, it was planned, but Kalambay got to The Bomber first. If they had met in 87, I think Graham would of edged the decision, particularly at home. Graham WS15
Herol on points or busts him up for a late stoppage. Unless Barkley turns the tables as he did with Hearns.
Barkley wouldn't of paid a glove on him for six rounds, and would've been made to look like an amateur. However, he'd get to Graham in the second half of the fight where Bomber gets sloppy and tired. If 15 rounds, Blade stoppage.
It would be a typical Graham at world level........looks great for 10, bobbing & weaving, jabbing well etc. Then gets stopped with a bomb.
It's worth pointing out that although Bomber was primarily known for his fast, reflexive, hands down approach and awkward fusion of smooth/sloppy elusiveness, he was actually a very good infighter. Very physically strong, well-leveraged and dirty in the clinch when he wanted to be, capable of really throwing opponents around, spinning them, tangling them, pushing them off balance and hitting while holding. Barkley was immensely strong himself but isn't just going to be able to bully Graham at close quarters during the stretches of action there. The earlier version who fought Duran was a bit more varied and sophisticated as a boxer puncher than the more rigid, straight ahead brawler of later years but still got more or less shut out by Kalambay over 15. Sumbu was slicker, smoother and fundamentally more honed and refined than Graham, but Graham was still quick of foot with excellent balance, intelligent lateral movement and a decent if somewhat unorthodox evasive radar more often than not. Iran wasn't in McCallum's class either. McCallum was a bit susceptible to fighters quicker of hand and foot than him but had a wider range of tools than Barkley by some distance and was still capable of applying intelligent pressure more effectively than Iran. Physically smaller but still accurate and rangy with a great jab, yet you could argue that Graham really gave that fight away somewhat by clowning around and having the deduction for his bodyslam party trick. The latter could be a problem for Graham though. He wasn't the best ring general and often lacked consistent focus and composure, sometimes in the later rounds. So yeah, Barkley could well catch him in a similar fashion to Jackson or Kalambay if Graham zigs rather zags during an exchange or opts to stupidly showboat or brawl, which is distinctly possible. I think Barkley would be miles behind though should It happen. If though Bomber showed the rare sort of discipline on display against Kalambay, I'd expect him to win points quite comfortably, but it wouldn't altogether shock if the Blade scored a late stoppage while down on the cards by some distance.
Graham and easily. I saw the Barkley vs Tinley fight and Tinley got robbed. Saw the Sanderline fight and it was razor close- could have gone either way really. Barkley would get busted up by a slick unorthodox southpaw and end up punching at shadows the whole night. People forget Graham beat Kalambay second time- he was just on the wrong end of a terrible decsion.
