If Marlon had waited another year to fight Donald Curry instead of their initial 1982 matchup, could he have beaten the Cobra?
Not likely. Frankly I think Curry fought a style that would have always troubled Marlon at any phase in his career. Not to mention, Donald only had 14 fights versus Marlon who had 32, meaning if another year had gone by, Curry would have just been that much more experienced.
Marlon's chances would be better, due to the fact that he would realize the importance of fighting Curry, instead of clowning it away.As it was, the WBC may have matched him and McCrory together, the results of that one anywhere from 50/50 to 60/40.
Moochie should have clearly beaten Don (who was completely unable to train and prepare properly) in that initial meeting. It looked like a walking tank job to me. Drove Clancy nuts how the Magic Man would secure a perfect position inside repeatedly, then simply not let his hands go. Otherwise, he was practicing bird calls and doing that ridiculous stomp. I think the Cobra fully realized that Starling failed to defeat him by choice, and improved considerably for their rematch, a performance Marlon praised Donald highly for. I can't rate their first bout because Starling wasn't trying to win, and Don was in lousy shape. But for the return go, DC was clearly better, so the answer to this thread question is no. The perfect time for Moochie to beat him was in that initial meeting, and he didn't make an effort to come out on top.
I don't think it matters. itmight have been a little more competitive, but Donald was always a better fighter than Starling. Starling got a lot of credit for beating an overrated Breland who was inexperienced. I think Starlings best performance was the Honeyghan fight,but beside that I am not sure which fight shows he could beat a top welterweight Curry, who was exceptional.
He was jumping around and clowning in the first fight. Blew any opportunity to win it. Curry was more focused and showed a great technical inside fighting ability in the rematch. Marlon like MAG just said looked great against Honeyghan in a great display of counterpunching. Curry was still a level above him as a fighter but both were very talented.
You make it sound like they are worlds apart. I had their first fight scored even and had Curry up a point in the rematch. If Curry is at anything less than his best, Starling would stomp that ass.