elgigante
09-08-2005, 09:34 AM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1290000/images/_1292216_honeyghan_300.jpg
Name: Donald Curry
Nickname: The Lone Star Cobra
Record: 34-6 (25 KO?s)
Notable Wins: Marlon Starling, Milton Mccrory
Notable losses: Mike Mccallum, Michael Nunn, Lloyd Honeyghan, Terry Norris
When you are a hyped prospect in the sport of boxing, it can often be hard to live up to the expectations put in front of you. Women, Hangers on and drugs can be deterrents from helping fighters reach their full potential. Donald Curry is a fighter I believe falls under this category. Known as ?The Lone Star Cobra?. Curry was one of the more hyped prospects of the early 1980's. He qualified as a welterweight for the 1980 Olympic team, but was unable to fulfill his Olympic dream due to the US boycott of those games. Instead of waiting to try again in 1984, Curry went pro on December 26th 1980. Curry would win his first 14 in a row including 9 in a row by KO. In his 15th bout Curry would take on fellow undefeated Welterweight sensation Marlon Starling. Starling, who was one of a slew of talented welterweights from this era, was 25-0 at the time of their match up and this fight was eagerly anticipated by boxing fans all across the US. Curry would win a hard fought split decision over Starling which would propel him into his first world title shot.
That title shot would happen in his home town of Fort Worth Texas on February 13th 1983 against WBA Welterweight titleist Jun-Suk Hwang. Curry, spurred on by the hometown support, would box circles around Hwang and score a rather easy unanimous decision win, giving him his first world title. At this same time Donald?s brother Bruce was the holder of the WBC light welterweight title, making them the first set of siblings ever to hold World titles at the same time. After a brutal one round beat down of Roger Stafford in his first defense, Curry headed into a 1984 rematch against Marlon Starling, this time with Starling?s IBF belt on the line. Curry had a much easier go of the rematch, using his quickness to his advantage in out pointing Starling by a wide margin en route to a UD win. Donald would string together 5 more defenses in a row, all KO wins before meeting up with Milton Mccrory in late 1985 in a unification match for the undisputed welterweight crown.
Mccrory, the WBC welterweight titleist at the time was a tough fighter. He was trained out of the famous Kronk gym in Detroit and had very good power. This was expected to be one of the tougher tests of Donald?s career. Not only did Curry pass this test, he did so with flying colors as he overwhelmed Mccrory en route to a 2nd round KO win. This win unified the Welterweight crown for Curry and propelled him to near the top of most people?s P4P lists. After a KO over Eduardo Rodriguez Ruiz in front of the home folks in Fort Worth, Curry would make his next defense against relative British unknown Lloyd Honeyghan.
Relatively unknown outside of his native England, Honeyghan was supposed to be an easy mandatory defense for Curry. Someone however forgot to tell this to Lloyd. In one of the bigger upsets of the decade, Honeyghan would beat Curry by stopping him on cuts after round number 6. It was this loss that led to a slide in Donald?s career. Curry had some drug problems in the later part of his career after the Honeyghan fight and he never really was a dominant force again. He would move up to Junior Middleweight and win two fights there by DQ . After these wins Donald challenged WBA Jr. Middleweight champion Mike ?The Bodysnatcher? Mccallum in 1989. Mccallum laid a beating on Curry and dropped him for a KO in the 4th round. Up and down results were the story of Curry?s career after that bout, as he would win a couple of more bouts, including one final title win over Gianfranco Rosi for the WBC Jr.Middleweight belt in 1988. He would not even manage one defense of the belt as he was out pointed by Rene Jacquot in 1989 in his initial fight as champion. Curry would get two more cracks at titles, but both ended up with him being KO?d (KO 10 loss to Michael Nunn in 1990 and KO 8 loss to Terry Norris in 1991). Donald made a brief comeback attempt in 1997, winning one bout by KO but after a 7th round stoppage loss to Emmit Linton, he called it a career.
Although he retired as a fairly accomplished titleist, I cant help but wonder, did drugs tarnish the legacy of the ?Lone Star Cobra??
info credits:boxrec.com wilkopedia.com
Name: Donald Curry
Nickname: The Lone Star Cobra
Record: 34-6 (25 KO?s)
Notable Wins: Marlon Starling, Milton Mccrory
Notable losses: Mike Mccallum, Michael Nunn, Lloyd Honeyghan, Terry Norris
When you are a hyped prospect in the sport of boxing, it can often be hard to live up to the expectations put in front of you. Women, Hangers on and drugs can be deterrents from helping fighters reach their full potential. Donald Curry is a fighter I believe falls under this category. Known as ?The Lone Star Cobra?. Curry was one of the more hyped prospects of the early 1980's. He qualified as a welterweight for the 1980 Olympic team, but was unable to fulfill his Olympic dream due to the US boycott of those games. Instead of waiting to try again in 1984, Curry went pro on December 26th 1980. Curry would win his first 14 in a row including 9 in a row by KO. In his 15th bout Curry would take on fellow undefeated Welterweight sensation Marlon Starling. Starling, who was one of a slew of talented welterweights from this era, was 25-0 at the time of their match up and this fight was eagerly anticipated by boxing fans all across the US. Curry would win a hard fought split decision over Starling which would propel him into his first world title shot.
That title shot would happen in his home town of Fort Worth Texas on February 13th 1983 against WBA Welterweight titleist Jun-Suk Hwang. Curry, spurred on by the hometown support, would box circles around Hwang and score a rather easy unanimous decision win, giving him his first world title. At this same time Donald?s brother Bruce was the holder of the WBC light welterweight title, making them the first set of siblings ever to hold World titles at the same time. After a brutal one round beat down of Roger Stafford in his first defense, Curry headed into a 1984 rematch against Marlon Starling, this time with Starling?s IBF belt on the line. Curry had a much easier go of the rematch, using his quickness to his advantage in out pointing Starling by a wide margin en route to a UD win. Donald would string together 5 more defenses in a row, all KO wins before meeting up with Milton Mccrory in late 1985 in a unification match for the undisputed welterweight crown.
Mccrory, the WBC welterweight titleist at the time was a tough fighter. He was trained out of the famous Kronk gym in Detroit and had very good power. This was expected to be one of the tougher tests of Donald?s career. Not only did Curry pass this test, he did so with flying colors as he overwhelmed Mccrory en route to a 2nd round KO win. This win unified the Welterweight crown for Curry and propelled him to near the top of most people?s P4P lists. After a KO over Eduardo Rodriguez Ruiz in front of the home folks in Fort Worth, Curry would make his next defense against relative British unknown Lloyd Honeyghan.
Relatively unknown outside of his native England, Honeyghan was supposed to be an easy mandatory defense for Curry. Someone however forgot to tell this to Lloyd. In one of the bigger upsets of the decade, Honeyghan would beat Curry by stopping him on cuts after round number 6. It was this loss that led to a slide in Donald?s career. Curry had some drug problems in the later part of his career after the Honeyghan fight and he never really was a dominant force again. He would move up to Junior Middleweight and win two fights there by DQ . After these wins Donald challenged WBA Jr. Middleweight champion Mike ?The Bodysnatcher? Mccallum in 1989. Mccallum laid a beating on Curry and dropped him for a KO in the 4th round. Up and down results were the story of Curry?s career after that bout, as he would win a couple of more bouts, including one final title win over Gianfranco Rosi for the WBC Jr.Middleweight belt in 1988. He would not even manage one defense of the belt as he was out pointed by Rene Jacquot in 1989 in his initial fight as champion. Curry would get two more cracks at titles, but both ended up with him being KO?d (KO 10 loss to Michael Nunn in 1990 and KO 8 loss to Terry Norris in 1991). Donald made a brief comeback attempt in 1997, winning one bout by KO but after a 7th round stoppage loss to Emmit Linton, he called it a career.
Although he retired as a fairly accomplished titleist, I cant help but wonder, did drugs tarnish the legacy of the ?Lone Star Cobra??
info credits:boxrec.com wilkopedia.com