AB with a Heart and Determination. Both really talented fighters who are probably their truly best 1 or 2 weight classes down , Broner at 135 or 140 and clearly Garcia at 140. Both would have eventually lost but their both gunshy , not active enough and their power hasn’t carried over to WW, especially In Broner’s case. The money is at 147 ..so of course you gotta take the advantage of getting an easy title shot since you’re a potential draw shot in the division. But when you step up against bigger guys who are equal or better than you as a boxer and throw a lot more punches, there’s only so much you can do.
He’s actually a disappointment, still has the same deficiencies. No head movement and doesn’t throw enough. All dude wants to do counter. Such a shame, he’s officially gatekeeper status now. I expect him to go take the L to Crawford next and that will be that.
spot on...except unlike carr he was gifted a belt against someone that shouldnt have been fighting for it..he caught a break
Oba Carr was dope, had excellent tools, his main problem was that his chin failed him when he needed it the most. Son definitely didn't have any issue letting his hands go. Even with the chin deficiency he was a handful. He would do well with today's welters imo.
Oba Carr had some bad luck too with the era he was in. First title shot is against undefeated Felix Trinidad. Second is undefeated Ike Quartey. Next is undefeated Oscar De La Hoya. He did get a gift as a young up-and-comer against a declined Livingstone Bramble.
funny I was going to post this in the spence vs garcia thread the other night, but didnt because its different. Garcia has won major titles which Carr never did, but at the same time, Carr had the 2nd biggest roadblock at 147 outside of Hearns SRL Benitez. Swift wouldve fared no better and likely worse against OLDH, Tito, and Ike. Carr had excellent skills and speed and fought outta the Kronk, but he didnt have enough power to threaten those guys. he'd easily be a champ in this era.
he was never elite. just a skilled counter puncher with a big left hook. he'd struggle in the Meldrick Taylor/Mark Breland era. 147 today is ok, but there really arent any killers out there but Spence and Crawford. no one directly below or above either. this era is benefiting from a lot of hype. the Forrest/Spinks era was better and much forgotten. Forrest did a number on Shane who had just jumped up to take out ODLH. Mayorga came in and dropped a bomb on Forrest. Spinks became undisputed with beautiful boxing, got KOed by Zab, moved up and won a title at 154 then challenged Taylor at 160 who was every bit perceived as a killer. meanwhile Winky was runnin shyt at 154
The 80s and 90s eras were generally strong at WW. The SRL/Hearns/Duran/Benitez late 70s/early 80s and Tito/Oscar/Pernell/Ike/Shane of the mid 90s to early 00s era stand out, but in between that it was pretty solid. After Leonard retired in 1982, Donald Curry and Marlon Starling were about to make real noise at WW. Then you had other guys about to come around like Simon Brown and Lloyd Honeyghan. Starling's performance against Honeyghan is a masterclass. Simon Brown's first fight with Tyrone Trice and Aaron Davis-Mark Breland were great fights. Meldrick Taylor looked very good in beating Davis, then was a shot fighter a year later. I've always said that Taylor was going to have a short stay at the elite level, Chavez or not, because of the talent level at 147 (and his style). Cristano Espana was Taylor's mandatory, and Whitaker was just about to jump to 147. Tito won a title in 1993, and then Ike Quartey came along and beat Espana not too long after that.
glad to see someone else that knows the history back then. those were good times too. Donald Curry was undisputed (and my favorite fighter at that time) and he was the very first WW to hold the IBF title as it had just been created in 83. at that time, Curry was considered as the P4P best fighter in the world, such as Bud and the talk was that he was being avoided as well. We spoke about this the other day how SRL and Mike Trainer became Curry's advisors and steered him away from Hagler (he was going up 2 divisions to fight him) and SRL ended up fighting Hagler, which caused Curry to launch a lawsuit. the competition in Taylor's era was FEROCIOUS. up or down. because you had some great 140lbers then Norris was a killer waiting for anyone coming up. the WW's were too big for Taylor and when he went up to face Norris, he got obliterated. Taylor was too small for Espana, much less Norris. Breland was like the next SRL/Hearns. Highly celebrated amateur. People view him as an underachiever but the competition was crazy then. Aaron Davis was no joke. For the sake of comparion, Bud is like Curry and Spence is like McCrory. Jermell like Norris. 140 isnt that strong to compare back then to. the WW division today is deeper though, just off the strength of Manny. sn: Curry's Olympic team didnt participate due to boycott.
Did you ever see his brother's fight with Monroe Brooks? I thought it was one of the best fights of the 1970s, at least in the top 5 of the ones I've seen, with Ali-Frazier 1 and 3 and the two fights between Saad & Marvin Johnson. Bruce was pretty talented too. I read that he wasn't managed too well and thrown in there with tough competition pretty fast. He was only pro for about a year and fought Wilfred Benitez twice, giving him hell the first time around.
