CONSIDERING THE COBRA

At his best there was nothing Donald Curry couldn't do in a boxing ring. He was one of those extra large 5'11 inch welterweights with a good reach. But Curry could also move, lead, counter and the man could punch. Curry had an extensive and impressive amateur career with 400 wins. He likely would have been the star of the 1980 US Olympic Boxing Team (though he was never very charismatic). But President Carter decided the appropriate response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was to boycott the Olympic Games. So at 19 The Cobra turned pro. After ten fights in ten months Curry is moved along.

Bruce Finch-Ranked #6 at welter but he has been destroyed by the uber-greats Leonard and Hearns. Curry wrecks him too. TKO4.

Adolfo Viruet-The slick southpaw is ranked #8 and has gone the distance with Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. Curry retires him. UD10.

Marlon Starling-The Magic Man is unbeaten at 25-0 and ranked #4. He will go on to beat Kevin Howard, Floyd Mayweather, Simon Brown, Mark Breland, LLoyd Honeyghan and will become the linear welter champion. In a gritty fight Curry wins a split decision that wasn't really that close. SD10.

Jun-Suk Hwang-The unbeaten Pan Pacific champ has beaten no one of note. He'll go on to give Pipino Cuevas a tough fight. But Ray Leonard has vacated the division and a strap is up for grabs. In what is really a national coming out party for Curry, in his hometown of Forth Worth he outpoints the tough Korean (do they come any other way?) over 15 rounds and in his sixteenth fight and at the age of 21 he is a strapholder. UD15.

Roger Stafford-The Philadelphian is ranked #3 and has an upset win over HOFer Pipino Cuevas. He has beaten Kevin Howard twice and gone the distance with the formidable Milt McCrory. The Cobra destroys Stafford with three knockdowns inside two minutes. TKO1.

Marlon Starling II-He has gone 6-0 since they last met and is now ranked #3. In a very classy performance Curry wins ten rounds on each card. UD15.

Elio Diaz-The Venezuelan is 31-0 and ranked #5. He isn't remotely ready for this level of fighter. It's all Curry. TKO8.

Nino LaRocca-The Mauritanian is 59-1, ranked #4 and is getting enormous press. The Cobra flies to Europe and simply ends any speculation about LaRocca being the next big thing. TKO6 that felt like Curry could have ended any time he wanted.

Colin Jones-One of those tough, tough, tough woulda been a miner kids the Welsh produce. He is ranked #3 and has given #1 ranked Milt McCrory all he could handle in a draw (I thought he won) and a split decision loss. (probably the right call). Curry travels to Birmingham and ends Colin Jones career. TKO4.

To put this in perspective Donald Curry is now 23 years old and he is 22-0. He has already beaten eight ranked contenders. He is widely recognized at THE MAN at 147. He now begins to struggle to make 147.

James Green-Hard Rock was a no joke 154. He has a win over Wilford Scypion and has fought John The Beast Mugabi very tough for ten rounds. In his first foray at 154 Curry hammers Green. TKO2.

Milt McCrory-The #1 ranked contender holds a strap and is unbeaten in 28 fights. Were there p4p rankings in those days both of these guys would have been top ten guys (with Curry in the top two or three). The biggest welterweight fight since Leonard-Hearns. The Ice Man isn't the puncher Hearns was but he is also freakishly tall at 6'1 and he fights out of the Kronk. The Cobra hurts him in round one and then in round two knocks McCrory down twice with a single left hook. In one of Mills Lane's disgraceful moments he lets the fight gon on and Curry throws one punch, a right, and it is over. KO2.

This is the end of Donald Curry's glory days. He is 25 and on top of the world.

Lloyd Honeyghan-The Ragamuffin Man is unbeaten, ranked #6 and the Euro champ. He is not considered a serious threat. Nobody is. But Honeyghan is no fluke. He will go on to beat Johnny Bumphus and Maurice Blocker. The Cobra struggles to make weight and is never really in the fight. Honeyghan hurts him in the second, almost finished him in the fifth and after six rounds Curry, cut in his mouth, over his eye and across his nose has had enough. TKO6.

Carlos Santos-After six months off Curry moves up permanently and takes on #7 Santos. The southpaw Santos has a win over Mark Medal and has gone 15 with Wilfredo Benitez. It's a very, very tough fight with Curry ahead until Santos begins butting Curry over and over again and is DQ'd. DQ5.

Mike McCallum-The Bodysnatcher is unbeaten widely considered the best 154 in the world and is on his way to the HOF. For four rounds Donald Curry is controlling the fight. But in round five MCallum throw a right that grazes the body and freezes the Cobra and then Mike lands as pretty a left hook as one will ever see. KO5.

Lupe Aqunio-The top ten ranked 154 has wins over Davey Moore and Duane Thomas. He has just lost his strap to #2 ranked Gianfranco Rossi and in his next fight will beat Milt McCrory. The Cobra shuts him out. UD10.

Gianfranco Rossi-The strapholder is now ranked #2 has wins over Duane Thomas and Lupe and will go on to win another strap and beat Darrin Van Horne, Glem Wolfe and Gilbert Dele. After this fight he will not lose for six years. Curry keeps knocking him down and to his credit Rossie keeps getting up. But after five knockdowns in nine rounds the corner calls it. TKO9.

This is Curry's last great night. He is 27 but it is all over. He is stunned by Rene Jacquot his next time out. The he tries to move to 160 and he's just not a middleweight. Michael Nunn buries him in ten rounds. In one, final meaningful fight Terry Norris crushes the Cobra in eight rounds.

Donald Curry didn't last a long time fighting only 40 times. But he was THE MAN at 147 and defeated a dozen ranked guys. He lost his only two fights with HOFers, though both of those were at 154. Just a tremendous fighter if only for a short time.

When we start thinking about putting guys like Migeul Cotto or Joel Casamayor or JL Castillo in the HOF we shouldn't forget men like Donald Curry aren't in. Curry was special in a way none of the above ever were.

Here's the McCrory KO.