disaster for Duran. Duran needed the Iran Barkley type who stood there and fought him. Then he was in range of Duran..
honestly. Olajide would have outboxed Duran. Duran liked guys who stood in front of him then he was in range. Look the only great who stood in front of him was Hagler and Hearns, he hit Hagler a little, but marvin easily beat him. Then Hearns stood in front and he hit Hearns with a few rights than Tommy knocked him out. ... But the other guys were lesser caliber. Benitez outboxed him as did Ray..
Typo 32 years and I note you resorted to ageism and an insulting manner.Not cool. No I don't think it is possible to confuse Olajide and Nunn unless you are a millennial youtuber who was born after the era and talks about what he doesn't know about. Clearly you lack boxing knowledge about the time and what the magazines and newspapers were saying. Let me educate you ,during 1986 and the first part of 1987 the hype surrounding Olajide had built to epic proportions, and this was in credible journals like the New York Post, Ring Magazine, KO magazine and World Boxing. NBC also signed an exclusive deal with Olajide. The ring had a front cover with Olajide and asked if he was "the cassius clay of the 1980s".......KO magazine spoke of him dethroning Marvin Hagler........the reality was Olajide was an unusual fighter who was seemingly burnt out and shot at the age of 23/24 after a long amateur career. He was being judged as a raw youngster by these publications and media. They saw the cool image, the good looks of a pop star, his well spoken ways and in the ring he was exciting. He had speed, didn't mind mixing it up and he was putting some good wins together.........Absolutely laughable statement if you think Nunn and Mccallum were ever "in the same shoes"........Nunn had a hell of a lot of hype heaped on him in late 87/88/89 (endless magazine covers, HBO lavished him with a contract, while Mccallum never got the hype, lucrative HBO contracts and magazine covers and that was his whole complaint......Nunn also had an entire constituency behind him in Surkein, The Goosens and the Hollywood support of Mr T, Gene Hackman and Michael J Fox.....McCallum was on the backburner in the Duva shuffle as the 1984 Olympians took precedence......you really ought to consider your words first before you dive in.......which top guys did Nunn dominate?? He had some very good wins the best being Kalambay........but he didn't fight the big four through no fault of his own.....his whole hype faded away into indifference precisely because he wasn't "dominating" guys like Barkley, Starling or Curry......than James Toney put his lights out.....and the rest of his career was very average at world level........
This content is protected This content is protected 36 Win 36–0 Donald Curry KO 10 (12), 1:59 Oct 18, 1990 Palais Omnisports, Paris, France Retained IBF and lineal middleweight titles 35 Win 35–0 Marlon Starling MD 12 Apr 14, 1990 The Mirage, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Retained IBF and lineal middleweight titles 34 Win 34–0 Iran Barkley MD 12 Aug 14, 1989 Lawlor Events Center, Reno, Nevada, U.S. Retained IBF and lineal middleweight titles 33 Win 33–0 Sumbu Kalambay KO 1 (12), 1:28 Mar 25, 1989 Las Vegas Hilton, Winchester, Nevada, U.S. Retained IBF middleweight title; Won vacant lineal middleweight title 32 Win 32–0 Juan Roldán KO 8 (12), 2:28 Nov 4, 1988 Las Vegas Hilton, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Retained IBF middleweight title 31 Win 31–0 Frank Tate TKO 9 (15), 0:40 Jul 28, 1988 Caesars Palace, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. Won IBF middleweight title
I would contest the two statements you made regarding Olajide "having great footwork" and "not being a warrior". Olajide had problems with his balance. His was not great footwork. It showed in most his big fights the Tate and barkley fights he appeared to at times have legs made of jelly. Athletically he was a specimen. He could fight 12 or 15 rounds if need be, a decent punch and speed.......I also would not question his "heart" or not being a "warrior" he showed a lot of grit to survive Tate and brawled with gusto vs Barkley in a memorable fight.........the Hearns fight he was afraid and timid early and was pretty much being humiliated but he showed the signs of a warrior by mounting a late rally...... I would perhaps rephrase it that he didn't quite have that hunger. He was a middle class boy and he was always going to be able to have a good career in something outside boxing.......he has pretty much earned six figures a year for the last 20 plus years with his training business........he was and is a very popular and well connected guy. Incidentally Michael used to write a short boxing analysis column in International Boxing Digest.......during which he showed himself to be a superb writer with a remarkable turn of phrase. Truly a talented man.
Dana Huff that i can agree with He was the consumate pretty boy Do you think he underachieved or he did what he was always going to do? I must confess i found some of his early knockouts exhilarating .the hard rock green,curtis parker and don lee wins were a decent little run....but his hot streak started just as the mw division suddenly became red hot...how do u think an unbeaten olajide just after the don lee win would have fared with: A) herol graham B) juan roldan C) kalambay D) the hagler that fought srl E) tony sibson 1988 F) benn 22-0 in 1988
Olajide would beat Duran. His feet and hand speed would beat him at 160. Barkley was made for Duran. He stood right in front of him. Duran got a gift to fight Barkley. You wouldn't think so but he did. Olajide would have beaten Duran. Duran would have beaten guys like Barkley or Roldan.. Great fights for Duran. Guys who were right there for him.
Well, being Duran was a 5'7 lightweight with a 67 inch reach I can understand that point of view, but Nunn ain't in the class of the other two
I'd agree with that, at middleweight he needed someone to come at him. Nunn wouldn't do that. No way would Duran want this fight at his age and weight
