Michael Nunn

I think his weightmaking problem gets downplayed when considering his losses to Toney & Little and maybe a few more of his lesser performances.
You forgot to mention Merqui Sosa @ 168 .
It also seems to me as if Victor Cordoba whom Nunn outpointed to win his 168 title had a weight problem himself by then.
Also does anybody know if the Rochigiani "loss" was really a loss ? as it was a SD in germany ..

 

Nunn gets underrated while Kalambay gets overrated , they're really on par with each other . I consider Nunn the better MW , while P4P they are closer .

 

That makes little sense.

 

Nunn was probably the smoothest, most flowing fighter there was. Many were hailing him lb4lb the best boxer on the planet in '88, and unbeatable.

He became gradually more and more flat-footed after the 80s, for some reason. He was a coke addict by 1990, probably.

I like his body punching performance against Crawford Ashley, though, real rib-crunching shots.

 

Who knows how things would have turned out for Nunn if he got the big fight with Leonard after he beat Kalambay. It nearly happened by Ray balked. I think Nunn got frustrated with his career after that and his performances started to suffer from his boredom against lesser opponents while his lifestyle went out of control.

If he had fought and beat Leonard (as I think he would have) he may have become the superstar he seemed destined to be. Who knows.

 

Absolutely brilliant for a period, he had the boxing world at his feet, them came the dreadful Barkley fight, and he never recovered. I witnessed the Little fight live, it was so sad, and yet with hindsight, that was the least of his problems...

 

well the Nunn - Rocchigiani fight was in Germany, Rocchigiani's birth place, and the crowd pretty much exploded after every punch he threw. Possibly could have had an affect on the scorecards, no? idk, but rocchigiani had a good high guard, probably blocking a lot of nunn's shots.
edit: ref looked absolutely bias

 

Whenever the topic of why Nunn "fell short" of genuine greatness comes up, the discussion almost inevitably centers on either drugs or weight-making. However, I always felt Nunn's biggest hinderence was the fact that he never really found a single style that he was most comfortable with. He could box and he could punch, but it seems like he could never really make up his mind as to which he wanted to focus on. Ultimately, he had a few very impressive performances where his power was sufficient to get the job done (ie: Roldan, Kalambay, Guthrie); but against opponents that he couldn't hurt, he either lost or was reduced to being an ugly, awkward stinker.

 

My take on that was that he, or specifically the Goosens, were pressured into making him more viewer friendly. The powers that be at the networks did not like the crowds at his fights and wanted him much more aggressive. But that just was not his forte. He was the guy that put the Goosens on the map but at that time, but they did not have the clout to tell HBO they were not going to turn their guy into a more entertaining fighter. Just stay a masterful boxer and cutie pie.

Nunn took a lot of heat on the way up and during those early title defenses for his slapping and safety first style. But he was almost impossible to hit. razoe sharp as well. The next thing you know, he's off his feet and is flatfooted slugging with Barkley. Not boxing and pecking away and turning him, but trying to back Iran up. And no longer as sharp.He was somewhat successful when he planted those feet but he became far more hittable. By the time of the Curry and especially the Roldan fight, he had the look of a guy ready to be taken. His great asset of punching while moving his feet was long gone and he was never ever a Nigel Benn slugger.

I think some different management with more pull & his career is much different and he never takes that fork in the road.

 

You thought he looked ready for the taking against Roldan? I personally thought the Roldan fight, along with Tate and Kalambay was the peak of his career, as mentioned the Barkley fight was not pretty.

To make matters worse, to then follow up with Starling (an awful match up) and Curry, again another bout with little for Nunn to gain, was simply dreadful matchmaking.

 

out of curiosity, what part of his fight with Nunn did Leonard balk about? do you know?

becuz Nunn is not Ray Leonard's kind of fighter

 

that little fight was such a lowlight....**** little dropped him and nearly took him out in the first round...there was no way he should've lost that fight