Don Curry.....What Went Wrong?

[OLD JUD]

I was always impressed by Curry, he was just awesome at his peak, he seemed to have all the tools of the trade...And then some.

The highly respected British commentator Reg Gutteridge described him as a 'Sugar Ray Leonard without the showboating'.

His decline was attributed to him having numerous 'Personal Problems', can anyone shed any light on this matter?

Thanks in advance guys.

[Mugwump]

Curry fell victim to two timeless boxing nemeses - weight and stardom. The Honeyghan massacre took many by surprise. But the truth is he had been sailing close to the wind for a good eighteen months prior.

[OLD JUD]

Curry fell victim to two timeless boxing nemeses - weight and stardom. The Honeyghan massacre took many by surprise. But the truth is he had been sailing close to the wind for a good eighteen months prior.

Hi Mugwump, It was pretty much an open secret about Don's problem making weight. In the few available accounts concerning his decline, 'Serious Personal problems' have been attributed to his downfall, i just wonder what the truth is?

A rumour of drug abuse has surfaced, i wonder if it has any truth to it?

[Prince Mongo]

Curry was looking at a super fight with Hagler and took his eye off the ball in the "space filler" Honeyghan fight. He was inches away from super stardom and it all slipped through his fingers in one fight against somebody that many considered at the time as an opponent. It is not like he lost to a superstar where he could keep his ego and dignity in tact. Mentally he never seemed to recover and get back into his stride again. This happens to a lot of fighters when they lose. There are some that can come back and some that can't mentally accept a loss.A good example is Pavlik. In stead of knuckling down and facing facts a lot of fighters whinge and whine,blame others lash out turn to drink drugs and generally feel sorry for themselves and go into a downward spiral. Curry seems to have fallen into that category which is a pity as he was a stylish and highly skilled fighter.

[TBear]

At the time I felt Curry fell in love with "The knockout". We've seen it happen many times where a real good boxer starts stopping opponents and leaves the skills behind and falls in love with the ko(see Terry Norris). The old adage "box a puncher and punch a boxer" holds true in most cases. Curry was stopping his opponents easily. Walking in and trying to stop a fighter like Honeyghan was a career changing mistake. Had Curry boxed(ala Starling) his career might have taken a different route.

The other things named here might have also been true but back when Curry was running through opponents I was thinking this.

[Prince Mongo]

At the time I felt Curry fell in love with "The knockout". We've seen it happen many times where a real good boxer starts stopping opponents and leaves the skills behind and falls in love with the ko(see Terry Norris). The old adage "box a puncher and punch a boxer" holds true in most cases. Curry was stopping his opponents easily. Walking in and trying to stop a fighter like Honeyghan was a career changing mistake. Had Curry boxed(ala Starling) his career might have taken a different route.

The other things named here might have also been true but back when Curry was running through opponents I was thinking this.

I agree with you 100%. Curry seemed to move from the basics that made him great in the first place and was looking to finish things off in a spectacular way in stead of just letting the KOs happen. There was something risky and fragile about this approach where you felt the wheels could come off in a big way and that was exactly what happened.

[OLD JUD]

Curry was looking at a super fight with Hagler and took his eye off the ball in the "space filler" Honeyghan fight. He was inches away from super stardom and it all slipped through his fingers in one fight against somebody that many considered at the time as an opponent. It is not like he lost to a superstar where he could keep his ego and dignity in tact. Mentally he never seemed to recover and get back into his stride again. This happens to a lot of fighters when they lose. There are some that can come back and some that can't mentally accept a loss.A good example is Pavlik. In stead of knuckling down and facing facts a lot of fighters whinge and whine,blame others lash out turn to drink drugs and generally feel sorry for themselves and go into a downward spiral. Curry seems to have fallen into that category which is a pity as he was a stylish and highly skilled fighter.

At the time I felt Curry fell in love with "The knockout". We've seen it happen many times where a real good boxer starts stopping opponents and leaves the skills behind and falls in love with the ko(see Terry Norris). The old adage "box a puncher and punch a boxer" holds true in most cases. Curry was stopping his opponents easily. Walking in and trying to stop a fighter like Honeyghan was a career changing mistake. Had Curry boxed(ala Starling) his career might have taken a different route.

The other things named here might have also been true but back when Curry was running through opponents I was thinking this.

Good comments guys, yes he was looking at the 'Super Fight' against Hagler, although other options being discussed at the time was fights against Hearns and Leonard, but Hagler would have been the stadium filler.

For me Curry was one of the all-time great Welterweights, it's such a shame his career went into a rapid decline.

[Prince Mongo]

For me Curry was one of the all-time great Welterweights, it's such a shame his career went into a rapid decline.[/QUOTE]

That is how I felt. He was on the verge of super historical potentially legendary mega fights with the likes of Hearns, Leanard and Hagler and we never saw them as Honeyghan rough housed, head butted and bludgeoned his way through him. I kind of felt robbed at the time because I felt we were on the verge of some really exciting fights and something special..
Honeyghan did well but did not take off where Curry left off. I had a funny feeling that Honeyghan was all wrong for him and had a strong feeling after his nose was broken that we would never see Curry return to the heights and form he was capable of. Sad really and a waste.

[OLD JUD]

That is how I felt. He was on the verge of super historical potentially legendary mega fights with the likes of Hearns, Leanard and Hagler and we never saw them as Honeyghan rough housed, head butted and bludgeoned his way through him. I kind of felt robbed at the time because I felt we were on the verge of some really exciting fights and something special..
Honeyghan did well but did not take off where Curry left off. I had a funny feeling that Honeyghan was all wrong for him
and had a strong feeling after his nose was broken that we would never see Curry return to the heights and form he was capable of. Sad really and a waste.

Agreed, Honeyghan promised the earth but fizzled out, i would have backed the pre-Honeyghan Curry (Fighting as a light-middleweight) to beat both Leonard and Hearns.

[jabsRstiff]

For the very brief time he was on top, Donald Curry was the best fighter I have seen in my 30 years of watching boxing. Do not confuse that with me saying he's the greatest.....