How good was Barry McGuigan?

very good fighter imo, had a brutal left hook.I think pedrosa was on the slide when mcguigan beat him, but still a good win.I remember reading an article not long back that barry wrote.He stated he'd of liked to have fought nelson, but looks back and realises he'd(nelson) of been to much for him.Honest and true.Good pressure fighter.Naz would've levelled him after 8 though, but he was better than robinson and ingle imo

 

NOT HOF worthy.

 

Least deserving HOF entrant. Quite frankly a joke that he's in there.

 

He was high profile at a time when boxing was big news in Britain. I think he got more praise than he deserved though. Somebody else has already said that Pedroza was on the slide when BG beat him.

The Cruz fight should never have been taken though because he was never going to win in that intense heat against a fighter who was used to the climate.

Always preferred watching Honeyghan fights to McGuigans.

 

Mcguigan was a class guy who made the most of the talents he had. He was the kind of guy that everyone loves to get behind and support, a kind of Ricky Hatton without the 'staged' 'stand up comedy' bull**** .. The whole country loved the guy, even in Northern Ireland during the troubles of the time, protestants and catholics came together to support Mcguigan, he was just that type of fighter .. Calzaghe and Lennox could only dream of that kind of support but maybe that was because in many minds, these 2 guys were a little too polished and a little too wary to get into a proper scrap .. In my mind, Calzaghe and Lennox were too good for the opponents that they faced at the time they faced them, and never needed to prove what they really had when in a crisis.
Back to Barry, the night against Pedroza is a fabled night in British boxing. A bear-pit of a crowd at Loftus Road, against a really good Champ a little past his best, in Pedroza. Mcguigan had the night of his life and was a hero ..
His loss against Steve Cruz in Vegas was painful to watch. If i can remember right, it was in the early evening when the sun was still blazing hot. Barry was winning the fight but was tiring late on and i think he got dropped 2 or 3 times in the last 2 rounds of the 15 which swayed the scoring to Cruz. A great featherweight fight, full of heart, guts and skill.
A true analysis of his skills would be that he loses big-time against Naz, would beat Ingle (i never rated Ingle, one bit) and would have a good fight against Robinson .. So basically he was Box office viewing but the highest level of Featherweight boxing i think he'd struggle and im a fan.
I'd far rather watch Barry Mcguigan fight than Calzaghe or Lewis, simply because theres an emotional involvement when you watch a guy like Mcguigan. It may be just me but when Mcguigan and Hatton were dropped i was gutted, when Joe, Lennox and Amir were dropped i was laughing and cheering .... Thats pretty interesting ..

 

Good call Sibbo, Lloyd Honeyghan was always entertaining .. His win against the P4P King Don Curry in '86, is in the top 3 greatest performances by a British guy ever .. Although people do forget that Curry had serious problems making weight since '84, so by '86 i have the feeling that Curry just couldnt do it anymore.
Thats not taking anything away from Lloyd but Don Curry was one of the most technically sound and elegant fighter of all time, he really shouldnt be getting beaten up badly by a banger like Honeyghan ..

 

Honeyghan was a very good boxer before before he won the title, it was only really after he walked though Bumphus and Hatcher in early defenses that he fell in love with his power.

 

A very good boxer compared to who ? Im not disagreeing with you, but you cant compare him to Curry. Curry was the heir apparent to Sugar Ray Leonard, he had everything and to watch him being beaten up round after round makes you think that the weight problems 'finally' caught up with him .. Honeyghan doing that to Curry is akin to Benn beating up Roy Jones Jr in the same way.
Im a big fan of Honeyghan and Benn for what they were but the true top line fighters should be able to handle them .. Don Curry is one of these guys that people forget because they remember the Honeyghan fight and McCallum knocking him out but he was truly brilliant ..

 

Is that a stylistic preference? :think

Something in their personalities?

 

Compared to how good a boxer he was after he won the title. He only became a "banger" as you called him after the (or maybe during) the Curry fight, before that he was very much a good boxer who happened to have a decent dig.

 

McGuigan was not the most gifted puglist of all time, not even one of the greatest from the British Isles. BUT had a great come-forward hard working style, good left hook. AND the whole of Britain and Ireland behind him at the time of the troubles.

Fight v Pedroza similar to the Hatton v Tstzyu one as he stepped the gears up against a supern aging fighter. I think the next fight he had was with Bernard Taylor who was decent but Barry caught up with him.

 

Im not sure TFFP .. Its not a stylistic preference because i love watching the 'True Boxers' with skills, like Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd, Pernell, Jones, Curry etc
Theres just something i never liked about Calzaghe and Lewis. Its continued with Khan and i think secretly i'd love it if Haye was blown away by Klitschko. I cant put my finger on what it is that i dislike about these guys.
I always felt that Calzaghe never had the guts to go to the states earlier, he was happy in the 'safety zone'. I always felt that Lennox avoided the barnstorming era of the early to mid 90s because of his refusal to sign with a major promoter, either King or Duva. His loss against McCall wouldnt have affected him that much if he was with a big promoter .. Khan is a media hype job for me .. and I have serious doubts whether Haye can really go into the trenches like a true Heavyweight champion, for example Holyfield, Holmes or Ali.
Im probably being unfair but with guys like Hatton, Mcguigan, Honeyghan, Laing, Graham and Watson, there was an emotional involvement there.
Calzaghe and Lennox could have been American for all i cared, i watched all they'e fights with keen interest but i was never gutted that they were dropped or got beat ..
I think im being a little unfair on Lennox considering the boxing politics in the early-mid 90s was all centered on when Mike Tyson was going to be released from prison and who would be in line for the shot .... Holyfield, Bowe, Moorer and Foreman were always jockeying for position with Lennox on the outside, simply because he wasnt with a big promoter.
Some people say that the 'Lennox Lewis era' was the 2nd best of all time, that is ridiculous. The Lewis era only began when he beat Holyfield which was '99, before then, he hadnt been in with any top line fighter even though he'd beaten some highly 'hyped' 2nd rate guys like Golota and Briggs.
Some people make the mistake of thinking that the Lewis era began when he beat Ruddock but he was still only on the fringes at that point. I'd probably agree that the 2nd best era in heavyweights was the late 80s to mid 90s when you had guys like Bowe, Tyson and Holyfield fighting because you also had guys like Dokes, Tucker, Ruddock and Moorer, but this wasnt the Lewis era ..... The Lewis era was 1999 - 2003

 

Depending on the level of opposition your up against can depend on how good you 'look' as a boxer .. Honeyghan was no Laing, no Graham and certainly no Watson in my opinion. Lets compromise, he was a banger that could box a bit, hows that Gaz ??

 

No you're right he was never a pure boxer but I def. think he started believing a bit of his own hype after the Bumphus and Hatcher blowouts and started brawling rather than mixing it upa lot more as he did in the Mittee and Shufford fights. It cost him the title against the crude Vaca who the "old" Lloyd would have comfortably outboxed and dismantled in 6-8 rounds without needing to get too involved, it also played right into a counterpuncher like Starlings hands but I think Starling would have been a hard matchup for any version of Honeyghan.