I don’t condone violence but I have always been a boxing fan but obviously because of my beliefs I don’t watch it like I once did but I just wanted to briefly elaborate on the careers and accomplishment of these great fighters. I agree with all of the praise being heaped on Thomas Hearns because he’s certainly earned it and I believe he would have knocked out every welterweight fighting today without question. Not even Floyd Mayweather Jr would have made it to the final bell in my opinion. But Buddy Mcgirt, James Toney, and Zab Judah weren’t chopped liver themselves. I believe James Toney would have beaten every super middleweight fighting today no shade to David Benavidez or Caleb Plant but what they didn’t have James Toney had.
Thomas Hearns vs Pipino Cuevas
For example, David Benavidez could match and maybe even exceed Toney’s offensive output but he didn’t have Toney’s defense. And Caleb Plant probably could match Toney’s defense but he didn’t have Toney’s offense. Toney’s ability to systematically break fighters down over the distance of the fight and nullify their strengths was another one of his strengths. His ability to invest in the body early and often throughout the fight unlike most fighters today would have paid dividends in those fights as well and I think that would have been the difference in those fights. .
James Toney vs Iran Barkley
Buddy Mcgirt for the most part only lost to really good fighters and all time greats like Pernell Whittaker and Meldrick Taylor for example but he defeated most other fighters put in front of him. While fighting with and injured shoulder in many cases. Very dangerous and good fighters I might add like Simon Brown (a fighter who knocked out the great Terry Norris) for instance. His shoulder problems limited him in many of those fights and limited his ability to advance higher in legendary status. Had it not been for his injuries I’m convinced he would have been a long reigning welterweight champion. I also think he would have been dominant among this era of junior welterweights and welterweights with only Crawford, Ennis, Errol Spence, and Thurman, posing any real challenge. At the end of his career his record stood at an amazing 73 Wins, 6 Losses, 1 Draw, 48 Knockouts.
James Buddy Mcgirt vs Simon Brown
Zab Judah was a great fighter too and deserves to be in the company of those greats. But I believe if he had taken his career more seriously (that includes James Toney as well) they would have done so much more in the sport. Zab Judah’s speed and power were second to none but he had a tendency to fade later in fights and I think that may have been due to lack of discipline. Had he been a more disciplined fighter with a little more emphasis on defense he would have won a lot of the fights he lost in my opinion. Although I don’t know Zab personallyI actually wrote him a message several years ago on Facebook offering some pointers on how to beat a young brash fighter he was about to face who I didn’t care too much about because of his disrespect for a fighter of Zabs caliber while being just an upstart himself, but who was wreaking havoc in the division at that time.
Zab Judah vs Corey Spinks
I actually told him to allow the young fighter to come forward and exploit his aggressive style and break him down by using defense make him miss and counter to the head and body. I’m not sure if he got the message but he appeared to be doing everything I suggested in the fight and eventually knocked the young up and coming fighter out. Every fighter on that stage were great and forces to be reckoned with in their primes. But Thomas Hearns deserves all the praise being heaped on him and he would have destroyed and terrorized todays welterweight division without question in my opinion.