what a war this would have been...i believe cotto would probably have edged a titanic struggle against the much underrated 'raggamuffin man,'but may have hit the canvas himself before winning,possibly by late stoppage...
The key here is prime and 147lb - prime Honeyghan beat Curry (who was never the same - in body, mind or soul). Cotto has nothing of that magnitude in his career, never mind at w/w.
Let's remember - for as great of a win as Honeyghan had over Curry. It was still a huge upset. That result was not expected for a reason. Breland & Sterling both beat Honeyghan.
Honeyghan was shot for the Breland fight but not the Starling one, that was a real beating and was probably the fight that ended Honeyghan. Looking at Honeyghan now I wonder if he used to blow up inbetween fights like Hatton does, it'd certainly explain a lot.
i can't agree with your assessment.prior to the shellacking he took from starling,honeyghan had been on the slide for some time,partying too much,and relying on wild,two fisted assaults to put away inferior opponents such as bumphus and hatcher.arguably,he was already 'on the turn' by the time he dismantled the shellshocked and over confident curry,having fought almost 30 times in good company.indeed,honeyghan himself has said that he was at his best against gianfranco rosi,when he wrested the european title from his foe,again on foreign soil.whilst starling may have had honey's number even when honey was in his prime(starling was no mug,to be fair,)by the time they met his skills were significantly eroded,and it could be argued that(with the exception of maurice blocker)honeyghan failed to deliver again in world class company after the curry victory.to this end,i'm basing this 'dream fight' on the version of honeyghan who spanked rosi in '85...
really?i'd've thought most boxing afficionados would have fancied starling at the time-i really thought honeyghan was gonna get pounded that night-and that's not being smart after the event.honeyghan wasn't 'living the life' at that time,and his skills were rapidly diminishing...
unless you see the man in the gym regularly,as a boxing fan the only time you get to see most fighters is when he's in competition.it stands to reason,therefore,that when the fighter gets made to look 'old' overnight,that's when the public realise their man is 'shot.'sometimes of course,it's a slow deterioration,as was the case,imo,with honeyghan.
cotto would probably have greater natural strength;ragga would have used his skill and boxing savvy;a reeaally tough call to make...
