Donald Curry - Retrospective

[Addie]

Between 1982-1986, Donald Curry was considered one of the best fighters on the planet. He had beaten prime Marlon Starling twice, and unified the IBF, WBA, and WBC Welterweight titles in destroying unbeaten Milton McCrory with a single shot to the jaw. By the time he ran into Britain's Llyod Honeyghan, he was apparently having trouble making the Welterweight limit and lost in one of the biggest upsets in Boxing history. He'd move up, but he would never be the same again.

Did Donald Curry achieve enough in that short period of time to be considered an All-time great. I think two wins over Marlon Starling, the devastating knockout over unbeaten WBC champion McCory, in addition to unifying every major belt at 147lbs remains impressive. Where does Curry rank as far as H2H goes at 147lbs, and we're all in agreement that a prime Curry would have beaten Honeyghan decisively?

[IntentionalButt]

Even after Honeyghan, he was IMO well on his way to beating a just about prime McCallum either by comfortable decision or even late TKO, until he was infamously caught with his hands at his hips. That's where I mark his decline's start...although Aquino was a good win. So I think his prime can be said to extend into his early 154 days, but perhaps that move ought to have been made before he fought Lloyd.

[Addie]

Even after Honeyghan, he was IMO well on his way to beating a just about prime McCallum either by comfortable decision or even late TKO, until he was infamously caught with his hands at his hips.

If it had happened in the 10th or 11th, perhaps I'd see it that way myself. It was still early in the fight, who knows what would have transpired had the shot not landed. Curry looked pretty good early on against Nunn also, but then his legs started to deteriorate and he was stopped.

[Mantequilla]

Curry is great as long as it's against fighters he can control the pace against or other technical fighters that are looking to fight a "clean" classic boxing kind of fight.

Akward aggressive fighters, swarmers and top notch sluggers...not so much.Other A level technical boxer-punchers that have no problem dragging things into a slugfest would give him serious issues as well of course.

An excellent fighter and great boxer-puncher, but all thngs considered he falls short of being an all-timer in my eyes.Too susceptible to being knocked off-kilter by less talented fighters.

[Robbi]

Curry wasn't just struggling with the weight by the time he fought Honeyghan, he was battling the scales over 2 1/2 years earlier when he fought Colin Jones in Birmingham. Thats not just a hunch on my behalf, as it's been well documented he was struggling with the weight for the Jones fight.

Rumour has it that Curry was actually battling the scales as far back as 1982. Source? A KO magazine, who reviewed the aftermath of Curry's problems with his manager and his weight problems after the Honeyghan fight.

Curry was advised by Dave Gorman to move up after he beat McCrory, then against after he beat Rodriguez in early 1986. Curry plainly refused as he had just became the undisputed welterweight champion and enjoyed the distinction of being one of only two undisupted champions in boxing at the time. The other was of course, Marvin Hagler.

Gorman was also against Curry moving his training camp for the Honeyghan fight. He trained in a very hot climiate, which Gorman was against as he thought humid conditions sapped a fighters strength. Curry was meant to be taking potassium pills to help him make the weight but he wasn't taking them for the Honeyghan fight.

Curry was stubborn on giving up his undisputed welterweight crown for too long. It eventually caught up with him.

[Addie]

Curry wasn't just struggling with the weight by the time he fought Honeyghan, he was battling the scales over 2 1/2 years earlier when he fought Colin Jones in Birmingham. Thats not just a hunch on my behalf, as it's been well documented he was struggling with the weight for the Jones fight.

Rumour has it that Curry was actually battling the scales as far back as 1982. Source? A KO magazine, who reviewed the aftermath of Curry's problems with his manager and his weight problems after the Honeyghan fight.

Curry was advised by Dave Gorman to move up after he beat McCrory, then against after he beat Rodriguez in early 1986. Curry plainly refused as he had just became the undisputed welterweight champion and enjoyed the distinction of being one of only two undisupted champions in boxing at the time. The other was of course, Marvin Hagler.

Gorman was also against Curry moving his training camp for the Honeyghan fight. He trained in a very hot climiate, which Gorman was against as he thought humid conditions sapped a fighters strength. Curry was meant to be taking potassium pills to help him make the weight but he wasn't taking them for the Honeyghan fight. Goram said Curry wasn't taking them leading up to the Honeyghan fight.


Thanks for that, Robbi. :good

Do you believe Honeyghan beat Curry as a result of the weight issues, or was it just a bad stylistic match-up?

[GazOC]

good post Robbi!!

[Robbi]

Thanks for that, Robbi. :good

Do you believe Honeyghan beat Curry as a result of the weight issues, or was it just a bad stylistic match-up?

A bit of both. Curry also changed his surroundings leading up to the Honeyghan fight. Gorman had the opinion that fighters aren't used to change and are creatures of habit. He wasn't doing things right during camp like taking his potassium pills, etc. Gorman left camp and was told not not return until the night of the fight. He did work the corner but wasn't happy with Curry's preperation leading up to the fight.

Curry had problems making the weight effectively, had out of the ring problems with his manager and of course had a terrible style to deal with when he faced Honeyghan.

[GazOC]

I remember potassium pills getting mentioned at the time. What is it they do?

[Rattler]

I remember potassium pills getting mentioned at the time. What is it they do?

Low potassium levels cause fast fatigue, muscle weakness and cramping.

They're for fighters, to insure in the dropping of weight, that they don't water drain the muscles and leave them susceptible to the above mentioned symptoms.

[NO MAS]

Honeygan smoked Curry's boots...:yep

[Addie]

Honeygan smoked Curry's boots...:yep

...Fantastic input. It's like me saying Marlon Starling smoked Honeyghan's boots. Not very informative.

[MRBILL]

Curry should be in the H.O.F. based on his welter reign and his ABC 154 lb. title capture........... Did Ol' D.C. hang on too long? YES!! But between '83 to '88, his career is worthy enough of induction............ Christ, Pipino Cuevas is in for cryin' out loud........... Curry's reign surely equates to Cuevas' 147 lb. title reign............ WTF?

MR.BILL:deal:bbb

[My2Sense]

[SIZE=2]

Did Donald Curry achieve enough in that short period of time to be considered an All-time great.

No.

His "peak" was too brief, and outside of McCrory, he lost most of his biggest fights.

[Addie]

No.

His "peak" was too brief, and outside of McCrory, he lost most of his biggest fights.

Outside of McCrory and Starling, he lost most of his biggest fights. Like Oscar, outside of Vargas and Quartey.

[My2Sense]

Like Oscar, outside of Vargas and Quartey.

No, Oscar also won genuinely big fights with Whitaker, Chavez, Gonzales, and Ruelas, to name a few.

[natonic]

I agree with the theory that his prime was too short. However, I think if he'd have been able to pull off the win against McCallum, I'd be willing to make an exception because he was absolutely brilliant in his prime. Just needed that marquee win against McCallum IMO.

[Unforgiven]

The weight-making thing is an AMATEUR'S EXCUSE.

Yes, I read that KO magazine article too, the one that came out after Honeyghan whipped Curry.
So, Curry built his whole welterweight reputation while battling the scales ? Okay, so how come it's an excuse when he loses then ?

It's just favouritism to only listen to the excuses of certain fighters because they are "rated". I mean, c'mon people, EVERY FIGHTER has an excuse for losing. And weight-making is right up there on the top of the list of ready-made excuses.

[Unforgiven]

Did any welterweight really put pressure on Curry like Honeyghan did ?

I mean, really put educated pressure on him, using speed and lots of movement and throwing fast hard sharp combos, constantly moving.
Curry seemed to be caught out by Honeyghan's no let-up style - and this was a skilful quick version of Honeyghan, not the arrogant brawler he became after his big win over Curry.
Honeyghan was too quick for Curry, ducked most of the punches early on and countered with is own hard shots.
Curry looks the same in the first round as he came out against all his opponents, but Honeyghan was quick and aggressive and committed with the counters.

Curry handled the styles of Starling, Jones and McCrory, but Honeyghan fought him in a complete different manner, put a different test on him. And Curry failed the test.

[GPater11093]

Curry is great as long as it's against fighters he can control the pace against or other technical fighters that are looking to fight a "clean" classic boxing kind of fight.

Akward aggressive fighters, swarmers and top notch sluggers...not so much.Other A level technical boxer-punchers that have no problem dragging things into a slugfest would give him serious issues as well of course.

An excellent fighter and great boxer-puncher, but all thngs considered he falls short of being an all-timer in my eyes.Too susceptible to being knocked off-kilter by less talented fighters.


definitly true. a style like that is severely disrupted by rushes.

[Titan1]

I think Donald just falls short of being considered great.If he had beaten Honeyghan in a rematch and capped off that fight with McCallum, probably.Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

[Addie]

I think Donald just falls short of being considered great.If he had beaten Honeyghan in a rematch and capped off that fight with McCallum, probably.Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

If he had beaten McCallum and avenged the Honeyghan defeat there's no question he would have been ATG material. McCullum, Starling x2, McCrory, Hongeyghan. Undisputed Welterweight champion.

[Boro chris]

I wonder sometimes if not enough credit is given to Honeyghan for his victory. As if the scales beat Curry and whoever was in the opposite corner was allmost irrelevant.

[frankenfrank]

Between 1982-1986, Donald Curry was considered one of the best fighters on the planet. He had beaten prime Marlon Starling twice, and unified the IBF, WBA, and WBC Welterweight titles in destroying unbeaten Milton McCrory with a single shot to the jaw. By the time he ran into Britain's Llyod Honeyghan, he was apparently having trouble making the Welterweight limit and lost in one of the biggest upsets in Boxing history. He'd move up, but he would never be the same again.

Did Donald Curry achieve enough in that short period of time to be considered an All-time great. I think two wins over Marlon Starling, the devastating knockout over unbeaten WBC champion McCory, in addition to unifying every major belt at 147lbs remains impressive. Where does Curry rank as far as H2H goes at 147lbs, and we're all in agreement that a prime Curry would have beaten Honeyghan decisively?

in this case i'd still rank starling higher , despite that h2h curry was slightly better. and yes , i'd pick a prime curry to beat honeyghan convincingly and don't forget also that honeyghan was smart using his head against him that also effected the result, and yes , i saw that fight.
i will rank curry higher than honeyghan despite the on paper outcum of their fight.

[redrooster]

I personally dont believe Don could have gone much farther with McCallum even if that particular shot not landed. His eye (I forgot which) was badly swollen. Mike probably could have polished him off by ten

[redrooster]

in this case i'd still rank starling higher , despite that h2h curry was slightly better. and yes , i'd pick a prime curry to beat honeyghan convincingly and don't forget also that honeyghan was smart using his head against him that also effected the result, and yes , i saw that fight.
i will rank curry higher than honeyghan despite the on paper outcum of their fight.

You cant rank Starling higher if Done beat him the first time with a flu and the second time much more convincingly


Curry was his master even as Lloyd was Curry's master. Weight or no weight, there's no way he could ever last 15 with Lloyd. Maybe 12 rounds by some miracle

[frankenfrank]

I think Donald just falls short of being considered great.If he had beaten Honeyghan in a rematch and capped off that fight with McCallum, probably.Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
and KO'd norris and nunn and stopped james toney and beaten michael moorer at a 172 catchweight , why not ?

[frankenfrank]

You cant rank Starling higher if Done beat him the first time with a flu and the second time much more convincingly


Curry was his master even as Lloyd was Curry's master. Weight or no weight, there's no way he could ever last 15 with Lloyd. Maybe 12 rounds by some miracle
i talked about the headbutt.
the weight is another thing.
they should have had a rematch at 154 or better : at some catchweight between.

[My2Sense]

The weight-making thing is an AMATEUR'S EXCUSE.

Yes, I read that KO magazine article too, the one that came out after Honeyghan whipped Curry.
So, Curry built his whole welterweight reputation while battling the scales ? Okay, so how come it's an excuse when he loses then ?

It's just favouritism to only listen to the excuses of certain fighters because they are "rated". I mean, c'mon people, EVERY FIGHTER has an excuse for losing. And weight-making is right up there on the top of the list of ready-made excuses.

Agreed.

I don't doubt that Curry might've struggled to make weight against Honeygan, but he struggled to make weight for EVERY title fight he had. What reason is there to think that he was any more "weight drained" against Honeygan than he was against, say, McCrory? It's only because he lost that it's assumed he must've been more "weight drained" than he had been in previous fights.


Did any welterweight really put pressure on Curry like Honeyghan did ?

I mean, really put educated pressure on him, using speed and lots of movement and throwing fast hard sharp combos, constantly moving.
Curry seemed to be caught out by Honeyghan's no let-up style - and this was a skilful quick version of Honeyghan, not the arrogant brawler he became after his big win over Curry.
Honeyghan was too quick for Curry, ducked most of the punches early on and countered with is own hard shots.
Curry looks the same in the first round as he came out against all his opponents, but Honeyghan was quick and aggressive and committed with the counters.

Curry handled the styles of Starling, Jones and McCrory, but Honeyghan fought him in a complete different manner, put a different test on him. And Curry failed the test.

Agreed here too. Fighters like Starling, Jones, and that Asian guy he won the title from (I forget his name, and I'm too lazy to check boxrec) all pressured Curry, but Honeygan had a different kind of unpredictable attack that mixed movement and slugging with sneak right hands. I don't believe any of Curry's prior fights prove conclusively that he was capable of handling an attack like Honeygan's.


I think Donald just falls short of being considered great.If he had beaten Honeyghan in a rematch and capped off that fight with McCallum, probably.Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

That raises another good point:

Curry was given every chance possible to redeem himself from the Honeygan loss and regain his prior status in the sport. He had title shots against McCallum, Rosi, Nunn, and Norris, and lost all but one of them; and the title he won from Rosi he quickly blew to that crude Frenchman.


I wonder sometimes if not enough credit is given to Honeyghan for his victory. As if the scales beat Curry and whoever was in the opposite corner was allmost irrelevant.

Agreed. I thought Honeygan just outclassed him. I don't think there's a heck of a lot that can excuse that when the losing fighter is considered right smack dab in his prime.