Fighters with short primes

Yeah i understand the weaknesses of Bowe, but for that question in terms of effectiveness i think he's not a bad shout at his very best. I don't class him as a lock though.

 

There is no wrong answer, very difficult poll to choose from.
I lean towards Nunn but I could be wrong, all were potential ATGs before the disasters in their career.

 

I agree that all had "potential" to be ATGs, however I think the talent level in some of the divisions would've prevented it.

Taylor's weight problems and the talent level at 147 is why I think he never really would've been an ATG. He left a little of himself in the Chavez fight but was still very good, however he went up to 147 after that fight after citing weight problems. With his stocky frame, that's very believable in my view. With the talent level at 147 around this period, I don't think Taylor lasts too long with his style and frame. His management team wasn't exactly one that protected him, and even if they did, Espana was a mandatory anyway, and always would've proposed all sorts of stylistic issues for Taylor.

With Bowe, I feel his best chance to beat Lewis actually would've been when they were supposed to fight in 1993, although I still favor Lewis slightly. Maybe Bowe beats a lot of other HWs around (like he did Holyfield) but it's often hard to be an ATG at HW when you're not viewed as the best HW of that era. Of course there are some exceptions (the 70s) so this is a maybe for Bowe IMO.

Curry, obviously in retrospect, should've went to 154 earlier. Even if he loses to McCallum, he should've been able to beat most of the other 154 lb. fighters. He certainly seemed to have the talent and skills. Given how his loss to Honeyghan seemed to affect him mentally and take away that aura of invincibility, maybe that also happens at 154 if he loses to McCallum and ends up losing anyway to less skilled fighters.

With Nunn, with the talent pool at 160-168 around this time, he certainly had the kind of guys that could've made him an ATG in a relatively short period of time compared to others. I think he had the style and talent to beat a lot of these guys. It just never worked out, he lacked this ability to put everything together.

 

Nunn was a very good fighter but I never had the same feeling with him as I did with Curry. Curry DID have a lot (well, more than Nunn) of great showings IMHO. Nunn was never spoken of realistcally as a man who could dominate the middleweight division the way Curry did with the welters and then move up to higher weights.

 

I know this might go off on a bit of tangent but I don't think edging past Starling is a bad thing. The fact Curry beat him twice is good enough for me, Starling is a nightmare for a lot a welterweights.

 

I don't think Curry looked that good against Starling but thats understandable, the guy was a PITA to fight and only the top guys ever beat him even when he was fighting at 154+.

I don't think theres a "wrong" answer here TBH....;O)