Both were very popular guys...Mancini with his father story, of course McGuigan was the most famous Irish fighter during the Troubles in Ireland. Mancini didn't win the really big fights against Arguello, Camacho and Bramble, while McGuigan was a genuine champ. His wins vs Juan Laporte and Eusibio Pedroza and Bernard Taylor were better than any of Mancini's victims. And Ray avoided his cross town rival Harry Arroyo like the plague. I'd go with McGuigan.
Mancini was better than McGugian. Perhaps slightly less talented, but he was tougher and responded better when faced with adversity, which IMO tips it in his favor.
Come on man. 2 Really popular fighters from the last golden age of boxing and i get 2 replys. Really?????
Barry sure left the game quick. Once things went downhill a little, he was out. Not the same w/ Mancini. But guys like Mancini don't seem to last that long. Way too many wars and their style and absorbing punishment fights time and time again get them to the scrapheap. But they give 100% on that journey. I sure wanted to see that fight they were building up---Bang Bang Bogner against Boom Boom. Then Bogner went and screwed up and that was off the plate. It would have been a real fan's fight and the over/under on jabs would have been what, 20? And I wanted to see Pryor have his shot against Ray, but if I managed him like Wolfe, there is no way in the world I'm signing for that battle of Ohio fighters. Speaking of which, there was another Ohio guy I wanted Ray to fight---the boxer Harry Arroyo. When was the last time you heard that name mentioned? But that guy was a real good boxer always in shape with good lateral movement & Mancini was on the way downhill, back then. So he could have lost the fight. The early version of Ray gets him out of there but that other version is going to have a tough time on his hands and hardly the easiest style for him to look good against anyway. But those fights would have sold well in Ohio and had good television money. They had to grab the $$$ for Ray because that clock was ticking. But me, I was a Pryor fan and that he a fight he was always clamouring for.
I like both guys alot which is why i posted this. But as far as the better more complete fighter i think McGuigan is the more complete skilled fighter.
Neither really belongs in the IBHOF. They both had a tremendous fan base and popularity. I would say McGuigan reached a higher peak level, but fizzled out faster.
Probably McGuigan, though his prime was very short. He had the more standout victories. I do question the comment about Mancini avoiding Harry Arroyo, however. Arroyo didn't come into prominence until early '84, around the same time Mancini was already fighting Chacon, then had to move on to a mandatory against Bramble, which he of course lost, and sent his career in another direction altogether. Not sure how one could say he avoided an unknown who hadn't had a real major victory yet. I sure don't remember anyone whining about Arroyo being avoided by the Mancini camp.
Good points. While I concur that McGuigan "might" have had the slightly better career, it should also be noted that Mancini beat Ramirez and Chacon who were legit hall of famers, and also gave Arguello a hell of a good fight. Frankly I don't think there's much between the two resumes. Guess it comes down to individual criteria.