What went wrong with Barry McGuigan against Stevie Cruz in '86?

Don't put the pasty Irish lad in the Vegas Heat.

Similar to the World Cup 94, Ireland on a roll playing Mexico in Southern Florida. Bad idea for my potato eatin' brethren.

 

i cant say that i would vote barry in the hall without a doubt if i was part of the voting party,

but what thing for barry i have to say,

he looked real good beating eusibio pedroza.

relentless and great foot work

 

irish boxer in heat + 15 rounds = ahhhh:twisted: :fire:scaredas::dead.

 

Not only the heat, but it was a daytime fight and there was a scorching sun to deal with.

 

Cruz came in as a late sub, so obviously McGuigan couldn't get the ideal preparation in. He was meant to fight some long-standing Argie mantatory, but injuries curtailed that man's career.

 

Heat was a factor, but if Barry's team did their homework it should not have been that big an issue.

 

All respect to Barry, I saw most of his fights on the way up and he looked great but I was surprised to see him voted into the IBHOF.
He beat a legend to win the title but Pedroza IMO was ready to be taken.
As for the Cruz fight, if it hadn't been for the heat he would have won.

 

A lot of Praise must go to Stevie Cruz for his performance, he was underrated before the fight, Even a "Steamed" McGuigen maintained a very fast Pace, kept up the Pressure, and Landed some very good shots on Stevie, But Stevie stayed Resolute, Kept his Form, and came out on top, Barry would almost certainly have beaten Stevie in a cooler Clim, But Barry was still a hard Fighter to beat, and Stevie did it, He deserves some priase for that,

Likewise The Stevie Cruz who quickly Crumpled against McGuigen Clone, Paul "Hoko" Hodkinson, was obviously not The Stevie who Beat Barry.

 

But why didn't his team get him acclimatised to the heat and conditions? They should have had him training in steam rooms!
I'm not saying heat wasn't a factor (obviously it was) but I'd like to think Cruz had something to do with the loss.

It's like the Maxim-Robinson fight - Robinson lost "because of the heat." Well sure the heat played a part, but as Maxim said, he didn't have air conditioning. We have to give the opponent in both cases some credit I feel.

 

Yes, your right, can't take away from Cruz. He had to fight in the same conditions as McGuigan.
The question is "why didn't his team prepare him for it?"
I don't know, I can only guess at naivety and ineptitude, But it was definitely a factor in the result.

 

Cruz had what you call in the NFL as "Home Field Advantage". A rematch in Belfast should have been in order. If a last minute sub was put in. Then a rematch clause should have been included in the contract.

 

McGuian simply got tired during the championship rounds. Dropped three times down the stretch. It was The Ring's 'fight of the year' and 'upset of the year'. He was never quite the same after the Cruz defeat who was a late substitute for Sosa.