Don Curry.....What Went Wrong?

[heavywoody]

Curry, before the Honeyghan shocker, was about as talented and skilled as anyone I've ever seen. I think that loss simply debilitated him mentally to the point where he never really recovered. I also remember reading at the time about a cocaine problem, but I'm not sure if there's truth to that.

If he hadn't tailed off, he might be talked about as a top 10 or top 15 ATG P4P.

Curry later admitted he got involved in some drugs. It was clear he wasn't the same fighter. I remember after he been McCrory, he fought Eduardo Rodriquez. He won the fight easily but as getting hit a lot. Much like Tyson did with Douglas. It is like Curry just gave up the great defense he always had.

Curry is my favorite fighter of all time and at his peak, he seemed to be without flaws. I know historically people put him down, but Marlon Starling was a very good fighter and Curry handled him twice. I think if Curry had not got involved in drugs and got rid of his original team, he would have been a great Welterweight.

[Ray Corso]

I saw Donald in the J.O program in the mid seventies (maybe 76)? He was a national champ in the J.O.s and continued an excellant amatuer career. His pro career was very good and I'll say this again on this site that Honeyghan at that time was someone you'd better prepare for!! Donald was boxing competitively from 76 to 90 and there was pressures he didn't need on him. His brother was a top contender and I believe there was money problems as to payouts! Donald was a good kid and a very good fighter there was alot of very good competition then and he beat the most competitive guy (Starling) at that time twice! Not bad!!! I'd say he was in the top five welters in thoughs days and thats a very solid group to be in! Today he would "own" the division! Ray.

amatuer champion
pro champion
left in good health
........................whats not to like?

[Anthony342]

So you're a trainer? For how long? And who would you consider some of the best fighters you've worked with?

[Rspen46]

Many reasons!

Several fighters that had downfalls similar to Curry, for a variety of reasons, like Pryor and others, I took a huge interest in finding out all the info i could on them and what happened and why, i read everything I could get, I tracked people down online and had chats with people in the know and did whatever I could.

So what I found on Curry, much of that has been discussed here, due to his rise in fame and money, he was doing some drugs during his peek and up till he quit, nothing that would totally derail him, but he did party a good deal with some things, he also drastically increased his partying after his rise, some have told me it was his choice, others claim his people around him brought the drugs and partying and some drinking into it, and more women, it's not like he Was Max Baer, but when you add it all together and increased it over time, it took a small toll on him, but overall in itself, maybe not enough again to derail him.
He was also having some money and girl problems and family issues at the time, someone close to his camp told me that he had many friends and family wanting a piece of his Fame and fortune, and that he made some tough decisions to cut off several friends and family as far as even going around them or having them come around him, I was told it took a huge toll on him to do so, but he said it had to be done, as Don realized they just wanted his money and that's it, they never specified what the girl issues were, but that something had happened to really get him down quite often, so i can't offer anymore than that, some even claimed he was gay, but that is another rumor.

Another person in his camp that was always with him till the end of his career, I found on Facebook, I actually got to meet this person, he said that Don fell in love with his own Ring success, he believed that no one could beat him under any circumstances, no matter what he or they did in the fight, even if he had a bad fight, he thought his ability would carry the day, no matter what happened, and believed no one could hurt him, they said his entire camp did there best to of course keep his confidence in himself high like that, but tried to get him to understand, no one is invincible or unbeatable and to always train and be prepared for anything, but he completely ignored these attempts to help him change his attitude about it.
They also think that is one of the main reasons he lost his 1st fight, more than just overconfidence, he was ****y to the point of thinking he would win no matter what, and adding to that all of the other above things going on in his life, it all added up to once he met the right opponent, he would lose badly, but I was told his entire camp was 100% invested in and already prepping him for the Hagler fight, and that Don himself was already planning how he would beat Hagler, and that nothing was hardly ever mentioned about Honeyghan before his fight, so they all definitely overlooked him not just a little but 100% overlooked him, his people admit that it was not just Don's fault but all of them did it, and the people I talked to, said they knew he would fall and fall big, with all his issues, but that it would come in the Hagler fight, they told me, they believed it would happen, and that there was no way they thought he would win, they thought that everything in his life would catch up to him in that fight, so they were all in total shock when Honeyghan beat him, and they admit, he was never the same, and that he even lost a lot of interest in continuing, but did not want to let his people, and his fans down, so he continued to fight even when he thought he should have quit sooner, I hope this info helps answer this threads reason for being.