Starling's Close Fights - Opinions?

[Russell]

A MD loss against Nunn, a SD loss against Curry, a draw with Breland and a MD loss against Blocker.

Which did he deserve to win?

I've heard it said that the Breland draw was absolute shit, but I'm most curious on the SD Curry call. Was Curry simply destined for bigger things and far more marketable then Starling hence the SD against Marlon?

[Russell]

Also, the SD fight against Brown that went in Marlon's favor...

[mr. magoo]

He deserved the loss against Nunn, in what was quite possibly the most boring fight I've ever seen. Old people fucking sounds more appealing than seeing those two have a rematch. The Breland fight was very close, but I haven't seen it in over 20 years. I watched that fight on HBO right around the time I was leaving 8th grade and going into highschool.

[natonic]

I thought he deserved the win against Breland. I thought the decision for Curry was appropriate. The loss to Blocker was appropriate. Starling faded badly down the stretch. He was smart to retire then. I think I blocked the Nunn fight from my mind and haven't seen Starling - Brown in a long, long time.

[Russell]

He deserved the loss against Nunn, in what was quite possibly the most boring fight I've ever seen. Old people fucking sounds more appealing than seeing those two have a rematch. The Breland fight was very close, but I haven't seen it in over 20 years. I watched that fight on HBO right around the time I was leaving 8th grade and going into highschool.


Bwhahahahha :dead:rofl

[Mantequilla]

Starling vs Nunn was a thing of beauty compared to the recent garbage Jermaine taylor offered us.Not saying much i know...

[mr. magoo]

Starling vs Nunn was a thing of beauty compared to the recent garbage Jermaine taylor offered us.Not saying much i know...


I respect both Nunn and Starling as fighters, but against each other, they looked like sorority sisters having a pillow fight. There was no action in that match AT ALL... At times, it appeared as though they were just slapping one another, and quite often missing those slaps. I'm glad I wasn't one of the people who paid big bucks for a ticket to that fight.

[TBooze]

Never really had a lot time for Starling. He was a very boring inartistic fighter, in an era of much more interesting characters.

Of the defeats listed, Starling did not deserve the benefit of any doubt in any of them.

He deserved, rightly, to beat Brown.

BrelandII; both deserved to be shot for putting on such inept performances, from allegedly then two of boxing's best.

[Ischbaad]

Starling was a guy that would give a lot of the great fighters trouble. But I agree, he was very boring at times.

[MRBILL]

Marlon Starling was too defensive minded when pitted against superior boxers or bigger men like "Curry & Nunn." Marlon Straling was a damn good boxer, but he often failed to let his hands go enough.... He liked to keep his hands up and make "Ear-Muffs."

The 1990 middleweight fight between Michael Nunn and Marlon Starling reminded me of the '74 fight between Carlos Monzon and Jose Napoles, except, not nearly as one-sided..... Napoles took a beating; Starling did NOT!

MR.BILL:good

[Ischbaad]

Marlon Starling was too defensive minded when pitted against superior boxers or bigger men like "Curry & Nunn." Marlon Straling was a damn good boxer, but he often failed to let his hands go enough.... He liked to keep his hands up and make "Ear-Muffs."

The 1990 middleweight fight between Michael Nunn and Marlon Starling reminded me of the '74 fight between Carlos Monzon and Jose Napoles, except, not nearly as one-sided..... Napoles took a beating; Starling did NOT!

MR.BILL:good

I agree. In his first fight against Curry, I remember him consistently being in a good position on the inside to let his hands go. But a lot of the time he would just stand there with his guard up or bounce back and do the 'Starling Stomp'. He was quite frustrating.

[My2Sense]

A MD loss against Nunn, a SD loss against Curry, a draw with Breland and a MD loss against Blocker.

Which did he deserve to win?

Funny enough, I just watched the Blocker loss again today. Very close fight throughout, and very hard to score. Starling pressed the fight all the way and sometimes landed the harder punches, but Blocker was busier. Blocker outflurried Starling the last two rounds, and that won him the fight.

I thought Starling should've had the edge against Breland, but he did allow Breland to come on a bit in the late rounds as I recall. I wouldn't say it was necessarily a bad decision, but a draw was basically giving Breland every possible benefit of the doubt.

The Nunn fight could've been scored 0-0. Neither fighter deserved to win that fight IMO. Nunn was given the decision because he was slightly busier (but no more effective) and because of his status as the champion and the "name" fighter.

The story of Starling's career is that as good and capable as he was, he was just a bit too disciplined - in other words, he allowed his opponents to outhustle or outgut him in key moments in fights, and that's what made the difference between clinching a win for himself and allowing the fight to be close enough to be a draw or loss. Against fighters that were busier and, perhaps, more marketable, he allowed room for his opponent to be given the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps a bit like Winky Wright in some of his losses.

[MRBILL]

I thought he deserved the win against Breland. I thought the decision for Curry was appropriate. The loss to Blocker was appropriate. Starling faded badly down the stretch. He was smart to retire then. I think I blocked the Nunn fight from my mind and haven't seen Starling - Brown in a long, long time.

I have "Starling-Brown" on tape... It was a bore.... Starling was too slick for the GREEN Simon Brown in '85.....

Starling KO'd Breland in '87 and then drew with Breland on HBO in '88.... The judges were being nice to Mark Breland....

Starling was too small to tangle with Nunn in 1990 as a middleweight.... ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz....

MR.BILL:rasta

[sweet_scientist]

A MD loss against Nunn, a SD loss against Curry, a draw with Breland and a MD loss against Blocker.

Which did he deserve to win?

I've heard it said that the Breland draw was absolute shit, but I'm most curious on the SD Curry call. Was Curry simply destined for bigger things and far more marketable then Starling hence the SD against Marlon?

I haven't scored the Nunn fight, but I think Nunn had the edge. Those types of fights don't really have winners though. The notion that Nunn 'beat' Starling is pretty misleading.

Haven't scored the Breland fight either, but I felt Mooch was winning clearly.

Had Starling by three points over Brown, that was a clear cut victory.

The Curry fights are both close and if Starling got the nod in either I wouldn't cry robbery. That said, I had Curry by a point in both fights.

Haven't seen the Blocker fight.

[MRBILL]

Starling looked his best when he KO'd Breland in '87 and when he stopped Honeyghan in 1989 on HBO..... Peace....

I never saw the fight with Mo Blocker...... However, I always thought Blocker was a brittle welterweight with a glass-jaw..... Blocker could box, and had some speed, but no durability....

MR.BILL

[TBooze]

Starling looked his best when he KO'd Breland in '87 and when he stopped Honeyghan in 1989 on HBO..... Peace....

I never saw the fight with Mo Blocker...... However, I always thought Blocker was a brittle welterweight with a glass-jaw..... Blocker could box, and had some speed, but no durability....

MR.BILL

He looked very solid giving prime Raggamuffin Man hell for 12 rounds....

[My2Sense]

I never saw the fight with Mo Blocker...... However, I always thought Blocker was a brittle welterweight with a glass-jaw..... Blocker could box, and had some speed, but no durability....


I think Blocker's chin was OK until Brown got through with it. After that fight, he was never the same IMO, and getting KO'd by Terry Norris up at 154 hastened his decline.

Starling-Blocker was a slugfest. Blocker didn't look like anything spectacular even in that fight, but he showed a lot of heart and grit, and that made the difference.

[Thread Stealer]

I watched the first Curry fight awhile ago, I had Starling winning by a point. Boring fight.

The rematch was much better though.

[sweet_scientist]

I haven't scored the Nunn fight, but I think Nunn had the edge. Those types of fights don't really have winners though. The notion that Nunn 'beat' Starling is pretty misleading.

Haven't scored the Breland fight either, but I felt Mooch was winning clearly.

Had Starling by three points over Brown, that was a clear cut victory.

The Curry fights are both close and if Starling got the nod in either I wouldn't cry robbery. That said, I had Curry by a point in both fights.

Haven't seen the Blocker fight.

Recently watched the Blocker fight and had Starling taking it by three. Re-watched the first Curry-Starling fight a while ago and had it a draw. Re-watched Starling-Breland II and scored it and had Starling taking it suprisingly close. Refuse to watch Starling-Nunn again....

My cards on Starling fights are below:



Donald Curry vs. Marlon Starling I: 115-115 Draw
Starling: 1,3,5,6 and 9.
Curry: 4,7,8,10 and 12.
Rounds 2 and 11 even.

Donald Curry vs. Marlon Starling II: 144-143 Curry
Starling: 1,4,5,6,11 and 13
Curry: 2,7,8,9,10,14 and 15.
Rounds 3 and 12 even.


Marlon Starling vs. Simon Brown: 116-113 Starling
Brown: 2,8,9 and 12.
Starling: 1,3,4,5,6,10 and 11.
Round 7 even.

Marlon Starling vs. Mark Breland II: 115-113 Starling
Breland: 8, 9,10,11 and 12.
Starling: 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7.

Marlon Starling vs. Maurice Blocker: 116-113 Starling
Blocker: 2,3,7 and 8.
Starling: 1,4,5,6,10,11 and 12.
Round 9 even.

[MRBILL]

A MD loss against Nunn, a SD loss against Curry, a draw with Breland and a MD loss against Blocker.

Which did he deserve to win?

I've heard it said that the Breland draw was absolute shit, but I'm most curious on the SD Curry call. Was Curry simply destined for bigger things and far more marketable then Starling hence the SD against Marlon?

Starling clearly beat Brown in 1985. I have the tape..

Curry legitimately beat Starling in the '84 title fight.. I have the tape..

Nunn beat Starling on points without doubt.. I have the tape..

Starling deserved the dec. over Breland in '88 on HBO, but the draw was fair enough.. I have the tape..

I never saw "Starling-Blocker." I don't have the tape..

MR.BILL:bbb

[lora]

I've always thought Breland fought much better against Marlon than is often commonly hinted at as well.

He was winning the first fight by a good distance, despite being constantly thrown to the floor imo.Starling was quite poor that night.

[Vic-JofreBRASIL]

He deserved the loss against Nunn, in what was quite possibly the most boring fight I've ever seen. Old people fucking sounds more appealing than seeing those two have a rematch. The Breland fight was very close, but I haven't seen it in over 20 years. I watched that fight on HBO right around the time I was leaving 8th grade and going into highschool.
Yeah, I agree !!

[Il Duce]

Not a close fight.

But I did see him KO Johnny Cooper in 1981, on Television.

One of his early nick-names was 'Spark-Plug Starling'.

You just knew he was going to be good!

[techks]

From what you've mentioned I've seen his fights with Nunn and Breland II. I thought he deserved the second Breland fight as many others do too. The Nunn fight was close(not a bad fight I liked it) but I thought Nunn clearly won. He didn't look good or great doing so but I thought he edged it dby doing a bit more than Starling. The Curry/Starling fights are what I really want to see.

[Bill1234]

I thought he deserved the decision in the Breland rematch.