Was John Mugabi sort of the Earnie Shavers of the middleweight division ?

:d

 

You have described Fernando Vargas here. Mugabi and Vargas have careers that were very similar.

 

Cheers mate, very interesting thread.

The more i look at it the more i like Shavers, tho i know it's not a thread to rank them. He came back from quite a few floggings and/or debilitating fights to put in good performances again and again.

Mugabi by contrast is thought* to have been basically ruined by one tough battle and indeed did very little thereafter. He also had a bit of dog in him at times. He looked like his pre Hagler self against Duane Thomas for a couple of rounds before copping a good punch that did serious damage.

Check out the James Green fight, particularly round 3. Green was a strictly average fighter with not much of a punch.

*By many, but not me.

 

Check out his chin in round 3 vs the light hitting James Green.

 

He said "my hand is very bad" and Mickey took it that he was thinking of turning it in.I don't think he specifically said he was going to.
He also had a wobbly moment against James Hard Rock Green when he took a thumb in the eye.

 

If he had climbed over it towards me,I would have crawled under mine!

 

Hard Rock should have really stopped him in that third, he was oh so close. I've never believed Duff's thumbed and couldn't see for a round story, i think he was covering for him. Green caught him a good right hand midway thru the round and he was in big trouble from there on until the bell. Prior to that right hand he was fine. Hard Rock didn't have the power and class to finish a game Mugabi who hung in there.

I think he was rushed to be honest, and needed several more bouts against steadily improving opposition. Irrespective of how well he went against Hagler (remembering Hagler had not fought for almost 12 months) he was a lamb to the slaughter.

He had some talent, big big power and excellent handspeed. It would have been nice to see him nurtured a bit, having the chance to learn his trade and round out his game. He reminded me a bit of Gerry ****ey in that aspect, but even ****ey may have had a better rounded run thru the ranks, and that's saying something. I think his chin would have always been his achilles heel tho.

Yes that was about it with the fractured thumb or whatever it ended up being. Will have to watch that fight again one day and look for how his right hand went there after.

 

Mugabi was also very stiff- legged,he gave Marvin a good fight but wasn't quite good enough for even the slightly past his best marvellous one.

 

Fine observation Mac.

 

I think he was better all around skill wise than Shavers.

 

I don't believe that for one second Mac.

On a more serious note. I don't doubt the beast's foolishness and spendthrift ways.

All I will say is I spent many a happy time in a pub in Windsor called the Donkey house which at the time was run by Maxie Beech, a former fighter and very close pal of Terry Downes, and between them they regaled me with quite a few eye opening tales about said Mr Duff.

 

I used to see Mr Downes at the fights ,you always knew when he was there! He would be shouting advice and telling the referee what to do,"now then Gibbsy wotch is ead"
A big hearted guy ,in and out of the ring. I used to go to all Duff's bills my mate was pals with his secretary Davy Jones and we got top tickets ,"the other way." I knew Mickey well enough to say hello and he and my pal would exchange cigars,I think my mate got the best of the deal!
Let's just say Mickey was not the sentimental type ,a shrewd, hard man.

 

I rate Mugabi quite high.
Maybe he does much of his plaudits of the Hagler loss but people are quick to talk about Hearns' effort against Hagler too, and Mugabi gave Hagler the tougher fight. Hearns proved tough for about 2 1/2 minutes.
Incidentally Hearns passed on the chance to fight Mugabi (at 154) himself before Hagler agreed to fight Mugabi at 160.

As for the Shavers comparison, Shavers was losing to guys like Ron Stander and Bob Stallings when he was still a young fighter.
Even for those who say the Hagler fight and its aftermath didn't effect Mugabi (I disagree) it should be noted that the guys he went on to lose to in the next 5 years (Duane Thomas, Terry Norris, Gerald McClellan) wre actually top fighters at 154.
Norris and McClellan were even pound-for-pound rated fighters. And the lose to Thomas might well have been the result of a thumb in the eye.

Shavers beat an old Jimmy Ellis and an aging Ken Norton.
Those are rightfully more famous than Curtis Parker, James Green and Frank Fletcher, but not necessarily an awful lot better at the relevant points in time.

 

Yeah, Mugabi is a bit underrated.

He did get hurt by Green, but recovered and actually boxed effectively. People tend to view him in hindsight as if he was some kamikaze brawler.

The Green fight was actually an invaluable learning fight. He needed someone to stand up to him and push him in to the later rounds. It was part of his development.

Don't forget, he had good amateur creditdentals - he was an Olympic Silver Medalist.

He showed some decent skills in the Hagler fight.

But, as the Parker fight showed, he had great power and could run through a quality figher.