Marlon Starling

The guy was like a bird.

 

(Molinares aside ) Staring did not do highlights, you have to be connoisseur of boxing to 'get him'. A very good fighter, and like you mention particularly good defensively. But because of that, he never quite hit it off with anyone other than the 'hardcore'.

 

Yeah... a S...eagull!

 

Really?

Jose Baret was a touted banger and Starling demoralised him in 3 rounds.

Breland was highly accomplished as well as very highly touted and Starling beat him up and stopped him.

Straight after Molinares, Starling beat the tar out of the lineal champ with lots of nice work.

Starling was the one pressing the fight in the championship rounds in his only bout at middleweight against the highly touted undefeated middleweight champ Michael Nunn.

Wasn't that loved, and was guilty of nodding off and having some stinkers, but coupled with his defensive genius you could easily make a highlight out of his strong inside work and a few brutal stoppages.

 

And super hot Starling on the verge of a superfight blows the Vilella fight. Then after beating Brown he blows the Bumphus bout, and after Honeyghan, he blows the Blocker bout...

 

Jose Baret, headliner at the felt forum, never to be heard from again. Marlon seemed to choke against every up N comer on the rise including flu ridden Curry & Bumphus. only managed a draw with Beland

 

Good thing he ducked power-punching Keith Mullings !! And, Boudani, Brown and Jackson

 

**** off he was robbed against Breland. Was Breland not kn the rise in the first fight?

You're a spastic.

 

Did you not read my last paragraph? Did I say he was always super hot? In fact I said completely the opposite.

Blocker was a few defences and a middle weight title fight after Honeyghan.

 

Starling was awesome, great defense, great boxer with some really impressive wins. My kind of boxer!

 

Marlon was a great defensive fighter, who, as mentioned before, often sleepwalked through fights.May have been able to pull the tricks earlier if he had met Milton McCrory, but that wasn't guaranteed.A small case can be made that he arguably beat Curry the first time, a lot of those rounds were close.

 

One of my favorite fighters growing up when I started watching boxing in the mid-late 80's. Awesome personality. Always in good shape. A master boxer who made good use of the peak o boo defense. Both of his fights with Breland were entertaining and his dissection of Lloyd Honeyghan epic. He also retired at a good time and didn't over stay his welcome. I also saw his upset at the hands of Thomas Molinarez which at the time was ruled as a loss for Starling, but today I think it reads as a NC. Haven't seen it since 1988 or 89 so can't remember. But Marlon was having it all his way through the first 6 rounds of that fight before Molinarez landed that shot after the bell....And I agree with the thread starter about Starling being both underrated and probably forgotten... But with the log jam of talent on the 1980's welterweight scene, who aside from Leonard, Hearns and Curry wasn't?

 

Starling was excellent. He possessed a great defense, and his fight with Honeyghan is an outstanding display of technical boxing.

I'm on the fence as to whether or not he belongs in the HOF, but there are guys a lot less deserving than him who have gotten in.