Donald Curry
Encyclopedia
Donald Curry is a retired boxer
from Fort Worth, Texas
, United States
. Nicknamed the "Lone Star Cobra," Curry was the Undisputed World Welterweight
Champion and the WBC
Super Welterweight
Champion.
Welterweight Championship. He fought Marlon Starling
, the USBA Welterweight Champion, on October 24, 1982. Curry bruised his ribs during training and also had a lot of trouble making weight: He reportedly was nine pounds over the welterweight limit less than a week before the fight. Despite these problems, Curry won by a twelve-round split decision.
. Three months later, Curry's older brother, Bruce
, won the WBC
Super Lightweight
Championship. They were the first pair of brothers to hold world titles simultaneously.
After making his first title defense, a first-round knockout of Roger Stafford, Curry had a rematch with Starling. Curry, mixing up punches to the body and head, stayed on top of Starling and pounded out a fifteen-round unanimous decision to retain the titles of the WBA and the newly formed IBF
, which elected to recognize Curry as their champion before the fight.
Curry's next three fights were successful title defenses. He stopped Elio Diaz in eight, Nino LaRocca in six, and Colin Jones
in four. His next two fights were non-title fights at junior middleweight. He stopped James "Hard Rock" Green in two and Pablo Baez in six.
On December 6, 1985, Curry fought Milton McCrory
, the undefeated WBC Welterweight Champion, to unify the welterweight titles. In the second round, Curry slipped a McCrory left jab and countered with a left hook to the chin that sent McCrory down. McCrory struggled to rise. When he did, Curry dropped him again with a solid right cross. Referee Mills Lane
counted him out. Curry became the first Undisputed World Welterweight Champion since Sugar Ray Leonard.
Curry's first defense of the Undisputed Championship was in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. His opponent was Eduardo Rodriguez, whom he knocked out in the second round with a crashing left-right combination. Curry was 25-0 with 20 knockouts, and many boxing experts considered him to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
n Lloyd Honeyghan
on September 27, 1986. Curry's preparations for the fight were badly disrupted by contractural arguments between his manager David Gorman from whom he wished to end his association and his preferred choice as manager the Newark, New Jersey raised Akbar Muhammad whom he announced as his manager in March 1986.Curry's original hope had been a fight against former middleweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard
who had opted instead for a fight against Marvin Hagler
and there seems little doubt that the unregarded Honeyghan was seriously underestimated.
The challenger Honeyghan was very confident, betting $5000 on himself at 5-1 odds and he easily won the opening two rounds, pressuring Curry and rocking him badly in the second round. Curry came back to win the next two rounds, but after that, he had little left. Curry had difficulty making weight. "I was weak and sluggish," Curry said. "I had no strength in my legs, and my timing just wasn't there. I wasn't myself." Honeyghan manhandled Curry in rounds five and six. Late in the sixth, an accidental headbutt opened a bad cut over Curry's left eye. He retired on his stool, choosing not to come out for the seventh round. The fight was The Ring magazine
Upset of the Year
.
In his next fight, Curry defeated Tony Montgomery to win the USBA Junior Middleweight Championship. Montgomery was disqualified in the fifth round for intentional headbutts. Curry's next opponent, Carlos Santos, was also disqualified in the fifth round for intentional headbutts.
Curry fought WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Mike McCallum
on July 18, 1987. McCallum, 31-0 with 28 knockouts, was boxing's longest reigning champion. Curry boxed well and was leading on all three scorecards after four rounds. In the fifth, McCallum caught Curry on the chin with a left hook, putting down for the count. "I don't know what he hit me with," Curry said forty minutes after the fight. "I don't know what happened."
Curry got another title shot on July 8, 1988. He traveled to Italy
to fight Gianfranco Rosi
for the WBC Super Welterweight Championship. Curry put him down five times, and Rosi retired on his stool after the ninth round. Curry was once again a champion, but his reign didn't last very long. He lost the title in his first defense, dropping a twelve-round unanimous decision to Rene Jacquot
on February 11, 1989 in France
. Curry built an early lead, but Jacquot came on late. "I just got tired. I just got tired," Curry kept repeating afterward. The fight that was named The Ring magazine Upset of the Year
.
He went back to France to fight IBF Middleweight
Champion Michael Nunn
on October 18, 1990. Nunn stopped him in ten rounds. Curry's next fight was another title fight. He went back to junior middleweight to fight Terry Norris
for the WBC title. The fight took place June 1, 1991 in Palm Springs, California
. It was a rough and competitive fight for seven rounds. In the eighth, Norris put Curry down for the count with a series of right hands. Curry retired after the fight.
in Detroit on drug conspiracy charges. The ten-count indictment charged them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, money laundering and being part of a continuing criminal enterprise. "My God, I don't know anything about this," Curry said. "I'm guilty by association. I've never, never ever had anything to do with drugs. I knew Stanley Longstreet and Darrell Chambers as boxers. I know nothing about any drug ring. I'm stunned."
In January 1995, Curry was acquitted on all charges, Chambers was found guilty and Longstreet took a plea deal. "I have been systematically...lynched and then castrated by, first, the news media, and then by the criminal justice system," Curry said afterward. He also said paying for his legal defense destroyed him financially.
In March 1996, Curry was jailed for failing to pay child support. He won work release soon afterward, but that was revoked after he again failed to make support payments. He served six weeks of a six-month sentence.
, Manitoba
, Canada
on February 20, 1997. He knocked out Gary Jones in four rounds.
Curry's next fight was against Emmett Linton, who was one of the boxers Curry trained after he retired from boxing. The Linton fight wasn't just about money: It was personal.
Curry had been Linton's manager and trainer. The two had a falling out in 1993. Linton said he didn't like the way Curry was handling his career. Their feud really erupted when Curry accused Linton of giving information to the mother of one of his children about his finances, which Linton denied. The two got into a fight and guns were drawn but not used. Curry filed charges, but they were later dropped. Shortly afterward, Curry went to jail for failure to pay child support.
When Curry started his comeback, he asked promoter Bob Arum
to get him a fight with Linton. Knowing that a good feud can sell a fight, Arum made the match. The fight took place at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, Nevada
on April 9, 1997.
Curry was no match for Linton. He was dropped in the first round and took a beating over the next six. Referee Richard Steele
stopped the fight in the seventh round. "I just didn't have it," Curry said. "I'm finished. I'll never box again." He retired with a record of 34-6 with 25 knockouts.
During this comeback, Curry did not realize he had undiagnosed kidney failure and pancreatitis.
).
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
from Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Nicknamed the "Lone Star Cobra," Curry was the Undisputed World Welterweight
Welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
Champion and the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
Super Welterweight
Light middleweight
Light Middleweight , is a weight division in professional boxing, above 147 pounds and up to 154 pounds ....
Champion.
Amateur career
Curry's amateur record has been listed as 400-4 and 400-6. Curry thinks he might have had more than 404 bouts, but he is sure he had only four losses.Amateur achievements
- 1977 National Junior OlympicsJunior olympicsJunior Olympics and Jr. Olympics can refer to any one of many different sporting events and organizations around the world dedicated to youth sporting activities.*Junior Olympic Gold, American national youth singles bowling tournament...
Champion (132 lbs) - 1978 National AAUAmateur Athletic UnionThe Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
Champion (139 lbs) - 1979 National AAU Champion (147 lbs)
- 1980 National Golden GlovesGolden GlovesThe Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
Champion (147 lbs) - 1980 World Cup Champion (147 lbs)
- 1980 U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
OlympicSummer Olympic GamesThe Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
Team Member (147 lbs). Curry defeated Davey Moore at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but didn't get to compete at the 1980 Olympics1980 Summer OlympicsThe 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
due to the U.S. boycott.
Early professional career
Curry turned professional on December 26, 1980, knocking out Mario Tineo in the first round. On May 5, 1982, with a record of 11-0, Curry knocked out Bruce Finch in three rounds to win the NABFNorth American Boxing Federation
The North American Boxing Federation is a not-for-profit regional sanctioning body that awards regional boxing titles. It is a boxing federation within the World Boxing Council .-History:...
Welterweight Championship. He fought Marlon Starling
Marlon Starling
Marlon "Magic Man" Starling was a two-time US world champion boxer.Starling was born in Hartford, CT in 1959. He turned professional in 1979. After 25 straight wins, he lost his first fight. He lost a 12 round decision to Donald Curry in 1982. Starling had a rematch with Curry in 1984, challenging...
, the USBA Welterweight Champion, on October 24, 1982. Curry bruised his ribs during training and also had a lot of trouble making weight: He reportedly was nine pounds over the welterweight limit less than a week before the fight. Despite these problems, Curry won by a twelve-round split decision.
World Welterweight Champion
On February 13, 1983, Curry defeated Jun-Suk Hwang by a fifteen-round unanimous decision to win the WBA Welterweight Championship, which had become vacant after the retirement of Sugar Ray LeonardSugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
. Three months later, Curry's older brother, Bruce
Bruce Curry
Bruce Curry , is a former professional boxer. He was the WBC Super Lightweight Champion from 1983 to 1984.-Amateur career:...
, won the WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
Super Lightweight
Light welterweight
-Professional boxing:The light welterweight class is a weight division in professional boxing that has a limit of 63.5 kg or 140 pounds...
Championship. They were the first pair of brothers to hold world titles simultaneously.
After making his first title defense, a first-round knockout of Roger Stafford, Curry had a rematch with Starling. Curry, mixing up punches to the body and head, stayed on top of Starling and pounded out a fifteen-round unanimous decision to retain the titles of the WBA and the newly formed IBF
International Boxing Federation
The International Boxing Federation or IBF is one of four major organizations recognized by IBHOF which sanction world championship boxing bouts, alongside the WBA, WBC and WBO.- History :...
, which elected to recognize Curry as their champion before the fight.
Curry's next three fights were successful title defenses. He stopped Elio Diaz in eight, Nino LaRocca in six, and Colin Jones
Colin Jones
Colin Jones was a Welsh welterweight boxer, who represented Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada....
in four. His next two fights were non-title fights at junior middleweight. He stopped James "Hard Rock" Green in two and Pablo Baez in six.
On December 6, 1985, Curry fought Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory
Milton McCrory was a professional boxer in the welterweight division.- Amateur :Milton had a reported amateur record of 105-15.He lost in the 1979 National AAU finals to Lemuel Steeples and in the Olympic Trials to Johnny Bumphus.- Pro career :Known as "Ice Man", McCrory turned pro in 1980 an won...
, the undefeated WBC Welterweight Champion, to unify the welterweight titles. In the second round, Curry slipped a McCrory left jab and countered with a left hook to the chin that sent McCrory down. McCrory struggled to rise. When he did, Curry dropped him again with a solid right cross. Referee Mills Lane
Mills Lane
Mills Bee Lane III is a retired boxing referee, a former boxer, was a two term Washoe County District Court Judge, and television personality...
counted him out. Curry became the first Undisputed World Welterweight Champion since Sugar Ray Leonard.
Curry's first defense of the Undisputed Championship was in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas. His opponent was Eduardo Rodriguez, whom he knocked out in the second round with a crashing left-right combination. Curry was 25-0 with 20 knockouts, and many boxing experts considered him to be the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Fall from grace
His next defense of the title was to be against London-based JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n Lloyd Honeyghan
Lloyd Honeyghan
Lloyd Honeyghan is a retired British boxer. Born in Jamaica, he was WBC/WBA & IBF welterweight champion from 1986 to 1987. and WBC welterweight champion from 1988 to 1989....
on September 27, 1986. Curry's preparations for the fight were badly disrupted by contractural arguments between his manager David Gorman from whom he wished to end his association and his preferred choice as manager the Newark, New Jersey raised Akbar Muhammad whom he announced as his manager in March 1986.Curry's original hope had been a fight against former middleweight champion Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard
Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...
who had opted instead for a fight against Marvin Hagler
Marvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
and there seems little doubt that the unregarded Honeyghan was seriously underestimated.
The challenger Honeyghan was very confident, betting $5000 on himself at 5-1 odds and he easily won the opening two rounds, pressuring Curry and rocking him badly in the second round. Curry came back to win the next two rounds, but after that, he had little left. Curry had difficulty making weight. "I was weak and sluggish," Curry said. "I had no strength in my legs, and my timing just wasn't there. I wasn't myself." Honeyghan manhandled Curry in rounds five and six. Late in the sixth, an accidental headbutt opened a bad cut over Curry's left eye. He retired on his stool, choosing not to come out for the seventh round. The fight was The Ring magazine
The Ring (magazine)
The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...
Upset of the Year
Ring Magazine upsets of the year
The Ring was established in 1922. Since 1980, it has named a fight that has resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectations as upset of the year, based on the magazine's writers' criteria...
.
In his next fight, Curry defeated Tony Montgomery to win the USBA Junior Middleweight Championship. Montgomery was disqualified in the fifth round for intentional headbutts. Curry's next opponent, Carlos Santos, was also disqualified in the fifth round for intentional headbutts.
Curry fought WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Mike McCallum
Mike McCallum
Mike McCallum is a retired boxer. Nicknamed "The Body Snatcher" for his fierce body punching. McCallum won world titles in three weight classes.-Amateur career:Claimed an amateur record of 240-10...
on July 18, 1987. McCallum, 31-0 with 28 knockouts, was boxing's longest reigning champion. Curry boxed well and was leading on all three scorecards after four rounds. In the fifth, McCallum caught Curry on the chin with a left hook, putting down for the count. "I don't know what he hit me with," Curry said forty minutes after the fight. "I don't know what happened."
Curry got another title shot on July 8, 1988. He traveled to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
to fight Gianfranco Rosi
Gianfranco Rosi
Gianfranco Rosi was an Italian boxer at middleweight.- Professional career :Rosi turned pro in 1979 and won the WBC Light Middleweight Title in 1987 by decisioning Lupe Aquino. He lost the belt in 1988 when he was dominated by Donald Curry...
for the WBC Super Welterweight Championship. Curry put him down five times, and Rosi retired on his stool after the ninth round. Curry was once again a champion, but his reign didn't last very long. He lost the title in his first defense, dropping a twelve-round unanimous decision to Rene Jacquot
Rene Jacquot
Rene Jacquot is a former professional boxer and world title holder.-Professional career:Jacquot turned professional in 1983 and captured the WBC Light Middleweight Title in 1989 with an upset win over Donald Curry. He lost the belt in his first defence to John Mugabi, via TKO in the first round...
on February 11, 1989 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Curry built an early lead, but Jacquot came on late. "I just got tired. I just got tired," Curry kept repeating afterward. The fight that was named The Ring magazine Upset of the Year
Ring Magazine upsets of the year
The Ring was established in 1922. Since 1980, it has named a fight that has resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectations as upset of the year, based on the magazine's writers' criteria...
.
He went back to France to fight IBF Middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
Champion Michael Nunn
Michael Nunn
Michael Nunn is a former American boxer. Nicknamed "Second to Nunn," he was a 6' 2" southpaw with great speed. Nunn was the IBF middleweight champion and the WBA super middleweight champion...
on October 18, 1990. Nunn stopped him in ten rounds. Curry's next fight was another title fight. He went back to junior middleweight to fight Terry Norris
Terry Norris
Terry Wayne Norris is a retired American boxer and a three-time world champion in the light middleweight division. Originally from Lubbock, Texas, he fought out of San Diego.-Early boxing career:...
for the WBC title. The fight took place June 1, 1991 in Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
. It was a rough and competitive fight for seven rounds. In the eighth, Norris put Curry down for the count with a series of right hands. Curry retired after the fight.
Legal troubles
In April 1994, Curry, along with Darrell Chambers and William Longstreet, was indicted by a federal grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
in Detroit on drug conspiracy charges. The ten-count indictment charged them with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, money laundering and being part of a continuing criminal enterprise. "My God, I don't know anything about this," Curry said. "I'm guilty by association. I've never, never ever had anything to do with drugs. I knew Stanley Longstreet and Darrell Chambers as boxers. I know nothing about any drug ring. I'm stunned."
In January 1995, Curry was acquitted on all charges, Chambers was found guilty and Longstreet took a plea deal. "I have been systematically...lynched and then castrated by, first, the news media, and then by the criminal justice system," Curry said afterward. He also said paying for his legal defense destroyed him financially.
In March 1996, Curry was jailed for failing to pay child support. He won work release soon afterward, but that was revoked after he again failed to make support payments. He served six weeks of a six-month sentence.
Return to boxing
In need of money, Curry returned to boxing. "This comeback is about a lot of things, but the bottom line is money," he said. "I wouldn't do this if I didn't need the money." Curry's first comeback fight was in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on February 20, 1997. He knocked out Gary Jones in four rounds.
Curry's next fight was against Emmett Linton, who was one of the boxers Curry trained after he retired from boxing. The Linton fight wasn't just about money: It was personal.
Curry had been Linton's manager and trainer. The two had a falling out in 1993. Linton said he didn't like the way Curry was handling his career. Their feud really erupted when Curry accused Linton of giving information to the mother of one of his children about his finances, which Linton denied. The two got into a fight and guns were drawn but not used. Curry filed charges, but they were later dropped. Shortly afterward, Curry went to jail for failure to pay child support.
When Curry started his comeback, he asked promoter Bob Arum
Bob Arum
Robert "Bob" Arum is the founder and CEO of Top Rank, a professional boxing promotion company based in Las Vegas. He also worked for the US Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York in the tax division....
to get him a fight with Linton. Knowing that a good feud can sell a fight, Arum made the match. The fight took place at The Aladdin in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on April 9, 1997.
Curry was no match for Linton. He was dropped in the first round and took a beating over the next six. Referee Richard Steele
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
stopped the fight in the seventh round. "I just didn't have it," Curry said. "I'm finished. I'll never box again." He retired with a record of 34-6 with 25 knockouts.
During this comeback, Curry did not realize he had undiagnosed kidney failure and pancreatitis.
Honors
Named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year for 1985 (along with Marvin HaglerMarvin Hagler
Marvelous Marvin Hagler , is a former professional boxer who was undisputed world middleweight champion between 1980 and 1987. Hagler holds the distinction of having the highest KO% of all middleweight champions at 78%...
).
See also
- List of WBC World Champions
- Notable Boxing FamiliesNotable boxing familiesThis is a list of boxing families with two or more notable boxers. Many families have had multiple members become famous in the sport of boxing with some having had multiple world champions.-Argentina:The Corros:*Hugo, world Middleweight champion...