If Shuler had not died in that unfortunate acccident, could he have been a force in the middleweight division?
Interesting question.I would assume he would have been a force in the division.How much of a force I don't know.Top ten contender for sure.He was a pretty good boxer.
He reached the heights after Hagler cleared out the division. Honestly, James didn't have to work very hard to reach the number one spot. Jerry Holly, Ray Seales, James Kinchen and now Tommy Hearns. He was the number one man by defeault more than anything but Hearns was a huge step up. Would he be a force in the division? KO magazine thought Hagler needed a win over him to prove his worth but what do they know? They're insane. What were sane people thinking? James wasn't going far. Not after what the hitman did to him in his big test. Even before hitman ko'd him at the 90 second mark, he looked woefully outclassed in skill like a second rater attempting to take the fight to Tommy. Hit man was so right when he said James and his trainer Futch could try to practice the strategy in the gym but that it wouldn't carry over successfully in the fight. When he tried to match jabs with the hitman, Tommy got off so much faster and looked much more the polished of the two. James' left came out slower than a Carlos Monzon jab and Hearns immediately countered underneath to the ribs, dropping his guard and lowering the boom, leaving shattered china all over the canvas. Perhaps in a weak division like in Hopkins' era, he'd find more success.
Schuler had peaked by the time he fought Hearns IMO. As far as I was concerned Michael Olajide was the future of the 160lbers
I don´t wanna sound too critical (especially because of his tragic death), but IMO he simply wasn´t good enough to make it to the top. He KO´d almost every bum he faced, but against better opposition (Kinchen, Jackson) he showed that he wasn´t that special. Against Hearns I was also a bit disappointed, at 160 lbs Hearns wasn´t the murderous puncher he was at the lower weights (but still very good), and he KO´d Shuler in the very first round.
Interestly Hearns went to Jame's funeral and gave the freshly won USBA title (think that was it) back to his family, proclaiming "he had it longer than me".
Yeah, I know that after the fight he went up to Bob Arum and thanked him for giving him the opportunity to fight Hearns and two weeks later he died in the motorcycle accident. I think he used the money he earned in the fight to buy it.
James Shuler was a pretty good fighter and had a an amazingl great Amatuer record, and heavily hyped... If he would have gotten over the Hearns Ko, he would have been a soid top contender for a while... I remember his fight with another good top Contender James Kinche, that fight could have gone either way but they gavie it too Schuler... I dont thin he would have ever been the number one guy at MW though, Michael Nunn.Mccallum, James Toney came a little after that and dont think Schuler would was good enough to beat those guys.
As I have already mentioned, his record suggests Shuler had already peaked pre Hearns. Shuler would of been a nice name on the resume for future of the division. Sadly we will probably never find out for sure though.
I sure didn't know anyone picking him over Hearns. Everyone I knew was pretty much picking a slaughter. Any hope stemmed from Shuler's trainer and that respect, as opposed to the chances Shuler actually had in the ring that night. It was a huge step up in class and a lot of pressure in a packed arena where the crowd was going to be cheering for the other guy. And Hearns was ready.
I recall a piece done at the time over one of the networks regarding the effects of a long amateur career and one of the subjects was James Shuler who had a very long amateur career. Shuler stated during the piece, "They say a long amateur career can burn you out early, but I don't feel anywhere near burned out." But it was shortly after that he was blitzed in 1 by Hearns. Who knows if he would have gone any further. I know that long amateur career burned out Kelcie Banks. He was deteriorating before he turned pro. Scartissue
Maybe Bernard Taylor too dont you think? Taylor was another one who had a ridiculous amount of amatuer fights went 481 - 8 !! He seemed to peak early fighting the great Eusebio Pedroza to a razor close decision loss in only his 14 th fight, after that seemed like he wasnt the same.
I don't know if we can say Shuler was really exposed here. He surely was, but this is one of Hearns' most devastating knockouts. Hearns was still a murderous puncher at this point, especially in the first round.
