Extremely good, I grew up watching welterweights of the 1980's, and he was among my favorites. He was very quick, had a servicable chin, and man could he punch!!! Other good fighters at that time were Starling, Breland, and Honeyghan.
I don't remember which fights Brown was favored to win, or picked to lose. What I can recall, was that there was a period where he was just cracking the hell out of welters everywhere. He lost early in his career to Marlon Starling, but after that, he looked near invincible for several years to come..
...............He was quite good. I remember at the time, it was he and Maurice Blocker coming up together in the same stable, and very good friends. There was a writeup in one of the mags about them, and how they said they were too close to consider fighting each other. How times change. In 1991, they engaged in one of the most underrated, scintillating slugfests of the decade, with the more complete, powerful Brown coming out on top via 10th round KO in a title unification match (someone correct me on that if that's not the case, but I remember it as a unification). He had a really good hook, was quick and agile, and had good power. His nickname, "Mantequilla" never fit him though, and had already been taken. Check out the Blocker fight and the Tyrone Trice bouts. As well as both Norris fights, to see how cagey he could be, and yet how he could be dealt with by a mover.
Brown was a good rangey, aggressive boxer-puncher early in his career, then slowly devolved into a one-dimensional slugging plodder.
He was very good. Great offensive fighter with dynamite in both hands(especially the hook), and good punch selection. He also had decent technical skills and was a good body puncher with great stamina, and a good chin. If he was in his prime today, I'd pick him over anyone currently at 147.
Anyone pick McGirt over Brown at his best?.I think it would have been a lot closer, but maybe McGirt just had the stylistic edge over him.
A good fighter who will forever be remembered for continuing to fight with his back laid out on the canvas.
i remember his slaughter of jorge vaca in '88 or '89. had vaca down 7 times in 3 rounds. also saw his fights with tyrone trice,the 1st bout was a near classic....good fighter simon brown,liked watching him a lot
