Iran Barkley - Underrated?

Juan LaPorte does NOT get my vote into the Hall.......... LaPorte had a punch and a chin, but his skills stunk.... LaPorte always fell short when faced against the elite 126 to 130 pounders.... I used to get pissed when LaPorte would lay on the ropes and make "Ear-Muffs" while trying to avoid punches coming in.... LaPorte was lazy who relied on his right cross too much..... He was game, but not great....

MR.BILL:bart

 

Getting beat and dropped by a near 38 yearold former Lightweight puts you in perspective I think.Being kod in one by Benn didnt help either . Coetzee was 42 had been kod in 1 round 11 years earlier by Bruno, retired for 7 years ,come back retired again for 2 years and had 2 fights in 4 years he scaled 253 for the Barkley fight over 30 lbs over his best weight .I saw Coetzee get kod by Bruno 11 years earlier he was a shot fighter then.Barkley was a brave guy with real heart but lets not make out he was a Charley Burley figure.

 

Hearns knocked out Cueves and beat Weston and Bruce Curry at the weight. Defended against Randy Shields, The man was awesome.

 

Barkley was a heck of a fighter, but he was wrong to think because he beat Hearns that he was the Hearns caliber of fighter. The fights with Hearns show us what happens when a style of a good fighter who punches hard fits the style of a great fighter perfectly to win two times. Proof that Iran had a style fit for Hearns is that Hearns beats Virgil Hill who is 24-5 in title fights on a UD in 1991, and then loses to Barkley in his next fight 9 months later, and Iran had a record of 3-6 in title fights. Virgil was so much better. Barkley's style was really bad for Hearns. Hill was miles ahead of Barkley in quality. Like I said Hill 24-5 to 3-6 title fights.

 

I agree with this but think it says more about Hearns ability to carry the extra weight. 147 was clearly Leonard's best weight. I think Hearns was destructive at both 147 and 154 but his physical advantages were that much more magnified at 147.

 

So did Nigel Benn

 

everybody almost lost to sanderline




edit:jesus 2008. man i sounded like such a geek

 

TS himself won't put him in top 20 MW or top 150 P4P , so how does it answer d question ?
I rank him close to Nunn (in P4P) , Kalambay , Robbi Sims , Nigel Benn , Michael Watson , Frankie Liles , Charles Williams , Merqui Sosa and Thomas Hearns . All 4 obvious reasons . Do I underrate him , or overrate him ?

 

Hill was not better than Barkley .
A shot and drained Barkley lasted vs prime Toney more than what a prime Hill lasted vs Roid Jones .
Hearns who fought both can be mentioned too , but so could Maske , but then Hill was Maske's age , Barkley was older and much shotter when he fought him .
And Hill was somewhat bigger than Barkley .

 

Your overrate him, he should be below Kalambay, Nunn and Benn because they proved themselves better in the ring and have better legacies.

He's a big, tough, conditioned hard hitting brawler that had a past prime Hearns number.

Hill was a better technical boxer than Barkley. Lasting against Toney is allot easier than lasting against Jones. Jones knocked out fighters in 1-2 rounds who went 12 hard rounds with Toney

 

Barkley was drained vs Benn and both shot and drained vs Toney , as I already mentioned . I think it helps 2 explain 2 of his more humiliating losses , he was drained vs. Duran as well , so I explained 3 .
Barkley also did much better vs. Nunn than Kalambay did , and he too was older than Nunn . Kalambay also proved his competitiveness post Nunn , as well as the similarly aged McCallum whom was world class into his 30s , Kalambay , especially considering his style , was not that much shot vs. Nunn . It could have always happened to him , but not 2 Barkley whom his chin is sometimes overrated .
Barkley had titles in 3 weight classes , Nunn had in 2 .
They belong 2 d same era .
And it wasn't like Barkley was matched carefully or even smart during his long career .

Because Jones fought all of those guys when they were older than when Toney fought them , much older , and is a year younger than Toney himself - he simply let Toney and others destroy these guys b4 he fought them . Montell Griffin , btw , is not an example to your argument btw .
Thornton and Sosa are , however , but I explained why above .
Also , we know how legit was d Sosa stoppage , there was a thread about it in d recent months.

 

he beat hearns in 88'
and then hearns goes and beats leonard in 89' although given a draw.
that proves hearns wasnt that shot.