Today, I received an e-mail saying that Larry Middleton, a heavyweight who was active during the 1960s and 1970s, has passed away. - Chuck Johnston
Larry was a tough dude back in the day. Kind of like a gatekeeper, you had to go through him to climb the ladder. He usually gave a solid account for himself. Not a champ by any means but a guy who gave good fights and fought with heart and integrity... RIP...
Larry Floored and broke the Jaw of Joe Bugner in a points Victory, also gave Jerry Quarry and Ken Norton tough nights, A good boxer and humble man a pleasure to watch him at work.
A tough guy but, unfortunately, did not get a title bout. IIRC he did reach the Top Ten in an era where the HW division had many good contenders.
I posted this over at BoxRec: Re: Middleton's ranking - Following this bout Ring ranked Larry #9. He rose to #8 and then #7 in the Spring of 1972 before falling out after his losses to Quarry & Lyle (x2). He, for some reason, returned to Rings rankings (at #9 and #10 depending on the month) during mid to late 1974 despite a UD loss to Oscar Bonavena and subsequent inactivity. It sounds like Middleton was an interesting guy. On the Norton - Middleton commentary the announcers (incl. Jerry Quarry) said that Middleton did yoga and was an artist & architect.
I was around for his prime years. Someone my age (or a youngster with more knowledge than me) could 'school' me on him. My own personal take was that he had a decent set of whiskers but couldn't pound with any real power and the top contenders (give or take) occasionally had some problems with him. I don't think I ever saw him fight (unfortunately) and I have hours of old tapes. Help me out here. R.I.P. Larry! :-(
