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

Great post. Stuff like this is why I come to classic. :happy

 

Shaver's definitely had more longevity and dedication to the game. Guy was around for ages...

 

Yeah, I don't think Duff was a Don King type crook.

Boza never went broke and I never heard him say he got ripped off by Duff.

Some boxers will blow their $$ no matter how much they make.

Hangers on, giving to family, failure to pay taxes, signing away power of attorney, etc. etc.

 

And when I'm tempted to say that Shavers was the better fight, I'm reminded of that determined, hard fought, valiant stand Mugabi made vs Hagler.

 

If he doesn't get "much of his plaudits" from the Hagler loss where does he get them from? What is his best win? Hearns has better tier three wins than Mugabi's best. At the end of the day his W column just didn't amount to much at all. He lost every time he stepped up.

Thomas broke his eye socket. It was definitely no thumb.

 

Nailed it.:good

 

He was a decent fighter.
"lost every time he stepped up" , yes, but that's a relative statement. At a certain level he lost. Hagler was a very high level.

I don't think Shavers was a lot more accomplished.

How do you know it was definitely no thumb?

 

Absolutely. He was chinny and had average boxing skills but his immense power made him a decent fighter for sure. He wasn't what so many think him to be however.

And guys like Thomas were good not great fighters. Green almost had him. He got 4 or 5 title shots while never beating anyone of significance. It was a case of fight lower level fighters or fight the champions, there was never anything in between. Well i'd put Thomas in between but that was for a title and Thomas rolled him.

His longevity is far better. He also had more heart long term for mine. He also faced a deeper tier of top level fighters and actually went the distance with a couple. In every one of Mugabi's 7 losses (except one late career against a nobody) he was stopped.

I've watched the fight and replays long and hard. It was a left hook/uppercut. Thumbs don't break eye sockets for mine and IF there was a thumb in there it was far secondary to the punch itself.

Boxers have been getting thumbed forever, i don't recall too many quitting from one. Certainly not with a world title on the line.

Thomas said maybe i hit him so hard he thought he was thumbed.

Emanuel Steward said he simply quit.

Carlos Padilla (the ref) said Mugabi did not know where he was after the blow.

 

It's not on youtube but if you can watch Mugabi's total distruction of Curtis Parker

That win made him a legitimate middleweight contender.

Nobody did that to Parker, except Nunn at the very end of Parker's career.

In '83, Parker still had a lot left.

Add in the war with Hagler and you can see prime Mugabi was a very good fighter.

I don't agree Mugabi was "chinny" in his prime.

Yes, he was stunned by Green but came back to win by KO

He wasn't even knocked down in his career until Hagler did the trick - after landing a ton of hard shots.

Yes, Mugabi was somewhat hyped because of his power and ko string, but he more that met expectations when he fought Hagler.

I think pre-Hagler he probably beats the limited Thomas.

 

Parker told his own story of this one that not too many knew.

There might be something in it. The victory certainly showed he had top shelf power and belonged in the top 10 given Parker was a fringe contender.

The sum of the parts doesn't shows me good more than very good. Hagler was off for numerous reasons. He hadn't fought for about a year, he was in his twilight, he was coming off the win over Hearns, etc.

Here's some comments

Impossible to disagree. Hagler was seriously considering retirement before the SRL offer came in. He was very disappointed in his performance and how brittle his skin and face was getting.

When a light puncher like James Green does that to you chinny is definitely apt. IMO it was masked by the low level competition he was fed.

He hadn't fought anyone of true note. ****ey hadn't been until Holmes either.

He did, and Hagler well and truly showed he was on the way out which made it a great fight. Two years earlier Hagler would have crucified him.

Thomas was a decent fighter. I would put his win over Sumbu Kalambay above any of Mugabi's, that's for sure. Sumbu was still on the way up and green but was already a good fighter and number 2 contender.

Steward says Thomas couldn't handle success and being champ. He went berserk, drugs and what have you.

We know just how much intestinal fortitude he had, coming back from a bullet in the face (heckuva story that) around his prime.

I'd still take Thomas, Mugabi looked as he always did in those first couple of rounds but Thomas soaked up a couple of good blows and as soon as he put some heat back on Mugabi he folded dramatically.

Mugabi never beat a fighter as good as Thomas. This is my point.

 

There is some great reading about Mugabi in at George Francis book. The story of him for the weighin for the hard rock green fight are hilarious.

How the guy got the results he did--if you read George's views--are incredible.Take any other fighter and have them do the same training and preperations, etc and what do you have?