If he'd moved up to Light Middleweight instead of facing Honeghan, would he have beaten McCallum, cleaned up the Jr Middles and become a force at Middleweight? I still think his win over McCrory is one of the most perfect performances I've ever seen.
.............Good question. Hard to say, as he seemed to come back down to earth HARD after Honeyghan beat him. My guess is no, he wouldn't have been able to be as dominant. I base this on what I saw when he fought Hard Rock Green and Pablo Baez at 154 before he met his Waterloo. His strength seemed less pronounced and his power had far less impact at the higher weight, though he looked fine physically. His style was that of a boxer, yet one that was always on the hunt; because of this, he was usually going to be in the face of his opponent, and the junior middles would have been all too happy to meet him in the trenches. He would have had to revamp his style and become more of a mover to compete at 154 long-term, and that wasn't the style that made him special at 147. Forget 160. That was never gonna happen.
Nice post. I remember after he beat McCrory there was serious talk about a match with Hagler as the next superfight. In fact, I remember Curry saying he was furious with SRL for jumping in before he had a chance. Having said that, I agree with you he probably wasn't strong enough for the middles. He did manage to revamp his style against McCallum, punching and moving more. I thought he boxed beautifully until the left hook found the target. I wonder if he hadn't taken the weight weakened beating from Honeyghan if he could have gotten up. Shame, great talent there for a while.
He could have been a force. He was plenty strong and shook McCallum several times. There were several great fighter at 154 like Norris and McCallum, so he still would have had a tough time, just like anyone would.
He was overrated by the American media who were desperate to find someone to carry boxing in the USA after Leonard's retirement. He was a top fighter but was not in the same class as McCallum. Honeyghan had the perfect style to beat him.
Remember that Jones was a slow starter and Curry decided to try and get him out early. He did it and all the plaudits must go to him but had Jones not got the cut and got into the second half of the fight it would have been more competitive.
He was beating McCallum before he was knocked out. I don't think he was overrated. He was very good and could have been great. His lifestyle out of the ring lead to his demise.
What impressed me about Curry was that he stayed in the firing range against Jones ,using a high guard , slipping punches , he picked Jones apart .Jones could whack with either hand,but he couldnt match Currys speed or technique.
