Azumah Nelson v Barry McGuigan

[Flump]

This was supposed to be the featherweight superfight of the mid 80's but of course due to McGuigan falling apart against Stevie Cruz in the Vegas heat didn't happen.

How do you guys see this one going, in an arena and not on an open air show in the sun of course...

[Mimmy]

This was supposed to be the featherweight superfight of the mid 80's but of course due to McGuigan falling apart against Stevie Cruz in the Vegas heat didn't happen.

How do you guys see this one going, in an arena and not on an open air show in the sun of course...

At the time nelson wass upposed to be the best featherweight out there. Mcguigan was a good boxer in his day also. i think Nelson would have out fought Barry over 15 rounds and taken a points win.

[banjo]

Nelson by a late rounds stoppage.

[Ezzard]

You've got to go with Nelson...

McGuigan would probably start well and out-punch Azumah. I can even see Barry being ahead at the halfway point.

Nelson's accurate counters would start to count. He'd time barry onto one and score a KD. Then Azumah would take over... Barry's stamina was fantastic. He'd rally late but the effort would leave him vulnerable and he'd be stopped in the 14th or 15th.

Barry would give a great account of himself and it would be truly great fight.

[Seamus]

Nelson would be the favorite, but McGuigan had a style to beat anyone. His constant head movement, bodypunching and stamina would give him a chance in this fight. I believe if Nelson wins it would be by stoppage sometime within the first 8. If McGuigan establishes his body attack in the 1st round, then I think he's got a chance of pulling off a decision win. Of course Nelson is best avoided in rematches.

[giacomino]

Although I always liked McGuigan because he was a hard-worker in the ring, The Professor would likely knock him out late with a straight right.
An even better match might have been McGuigan vs Fenech if Fenech had come along a little sooner

[ringsider]

McGuigan would have quit on his stool crying about the heat or something. He never could have beaten Nelson.

[Collins2000]

The McGuigan of the Pedroza fight might have given Nelson a decent fight. OK Pedroza was getting on but McGuigan was on fire that night. What an atmosphere.

Then again, I thought the talented Pat Cowdell (split decision loser to the legendary Salvador Sanchez) was going to be a test for Azumah and we saw what happened there...

As an aside, who remembers Azumah's post fight 'speech' after he crushed Pat? It started off with "WE WANT DANNY BOY. That girl! I call her a girl. No way she can take my power...". Great stuff.

[My2Sense]

Nelson would have to be the favorite here.

Seeing how many times Cruz was able to block McGuigan's shots and counter flush, I can only imagine what Nelson (with basically the same style, but with real KO power) would've done to him.

[Evander]

The McGuigan of the Pedroza fight might have given Nelson a decent fight.

Agreed.

The defeat to Cruz was no shame for McGuigan,the heat played a massive role in his performance.
No way Cruz would have beaten him in milder weather.

The Nelson of that time may have had to much for Barry.

[ringsider]

The McGuigan of the Pedroza fight might have given Nelson a decent fight.

Agreed.

The defeat to Cruz was no shame for McGuigan,the heat played a massive role in his performance.
No way Cruz would have beaten him in milder weather.

The Nelson of that time may have had to much for Barry.

You pansy ass puke sound just like McGuigan....blaming the heat. Steve Cruz was the better fighter and beat his ass while McGuigan whined in the corner between rounds.

[elmersalsa]

I think Barry McGuigan was a bit OVERRATED. Just because he beat an old great champion in London like Eusebio Pedroza does not mean he was a great fighter. Pedroza was not in his prime, and showed signs of slowing down.

Or maybe a defending champion defending his title in London, England is harder to defend than in any other part of the world.

Probably, OR MOST DEFINATELY, if the McGuigan vs Cruz fight would have been in London, Cruz would have not come out with his hands raised in victory.

McGuigan is not in Pedroza's, Nelson's nor Salvador Sanchez' league

[Flump]

I think Barry McGuigan was a bit OVERRATED. Just because he beat an old great champion in London like Eusebio Pedroza does not mean he was a great fighter. Pedroza was not in his prime, and showed signs of slowing down.

Or maybe a defending champion defending his title in London, England is harder to defend than in any other part of the world.

Probably, OR MOST DEFINATELY, if the McGuigan vs Cruz fight would have been in London, Cruz would have not come out with his hands raised in victory.

McGuigan is not in Pedroza's, Nelson's nor Salvador Sanchez' league

Try Germany, Italy or Argentina mate, as the saying goes you have to knock them out to get a draw.

[cfang]

I think McGuigan was have outpointed Nelson. Nelson a greater fighter of course but that doesn't mean he beats Barry in 85. McGuigan would have outworked Nelson to a decision win if we're talking about the guy that beat laporte, carba, pedroza and Taylor.

He just wasnt the same fighter after 85. Struggled against cabrera and ofc lost to cruz. The fire just wasn't there for him. As another poster says tho when he was on his winning streak he was very hard to beat with his style. He was very fast, threw constant punches, hit hard and had great stamina too. Some fighters in particular all action types do have a short peak and Barry was one of them.

[ClivePatrickLyons]

McGuigan could not beat Nelson......... even in his back yard in Ireland Nelson takes command in middle round's and puts Barry to sleep
in round 10

[Rexob]

Azumah was an all time great! He would have stopped Barry! late on, it would have been interesting while it lasted though.

[bigjack]

You've got to go with Nelson...

McGuigan would probably start well and out-punch Azumah. I can even see Barry being ahead at the halfway point.

Nelson's accurate counters would start to count. He'd time barry onto one and score a KD. Then Azumah would take over... Barry's stamina was fantastic. He'd rally late but the effort would leave him vulnerable and he'd be stopped in the 14th or 15th.

Barry would give a great account of himself and it would be truly great fight.

x 2

[tommo100]

nelson was in his absolute prime in the mid 80`s,he would have far to much for mcguigan though it would be a tough,hard test for him,i think mcguigan and eastwood knew he couldn`t win,so they tried the American route,if it was going to happen it would have been after the taylor fight,i think after barry struggled against Cabrera they both realised nelson should be avoided

[Bodyshot3]

I am fairly sure that Nelson would have found a way to win.....having read BM's excellent book a couple of times he is very honest in admitting that his fighting style and the additional pressures of being a major media-public star meant that he knew that he would have a short 'peak' and that his time at the top was going to be limited. It is a refreshingly honest read.

For me...the fight that 'got away' when it came to The Professor was a super-featherweight clash with Brian Mitchell. That guy could fight on the road like Nelson, was technically very polished and could win a fight in several different ways. It would have been a top, top fight.

[Counter-puncher]

Good post mate. Mitchell would certainly give nelson more diverse stylistic problems than Barry would.

[palooka]

The McGuigan of the Pedroza fight might have given Nelson a decent fight. OK Pedroza was getting on but McGuigan was on fire that night. What an atmosphere.

Then again, I thought the talented Pat Cowdell (split decision loser to the legendary Salvador Sanchez) was going to be a test for Azumah and we saw what happened there...

As an aside, who remembers Azumah's post fight 'speech' after he crushed Pat? It started off with "WE WANT DANNY BOY. That girl! I call her a girl. No way she can take my power...". Great stuff.

Miss Quiggle

[Bodyshot3]

Good post mate. Mitchell would certainly give nelson more diverse stylistic problems than Barry would.

Mitchell was very much the real deal in my book ...I actually think he managed Jim McDonnell a bit better than Azumah did.

It is not a super-accurate yardstick because Nelson got the late stoppage over Jim (and had him down as well) and the Mitchell fight went to points...but Mitchell never really allowed Jim into that fight and I think Jim had a wee bit more success against Azumah.

Nelson v Mitchell would have been a great fight and I have inkling that Mitchell would have found an answer for Fenech as well.

[bollox]

I thought it at the time and I still think it now...Nelson was a half a league above McGuigan and would have beaten him handily. All the boxing mags of the day picked McGuigan in a SD or late stoppage but that was based more on Barry's popularity and engaging nature rather than anything else. Mr Eastwood wouldn't let Barry within a country mile of Nelson

[Bodyshot3]

I

thought it at the time and I still think it now...Nelson was a half a league above McGuigan and would have beaten him handily. All the boxing mags of the day picked McGuigan in a SD or late stoppage but that was based more on Barry's popularity and engaging nature rather than anything else. Mr Eastwood wouldn't let Barry within a country mile of Nelson

I do kind of miss people like Barney Eastwood being in the British game...just for a few years he had a stable to rival any of the big London promoters and Eastwood's bills in places like Belfast/Dublin were huge deals. He did kind of challenge the old London dominance and the sport was better for it.....did a good job with Hoko and also and he got some good South American fighters over as well like Crisanto Espana and marketed them well.

[Counter-puncher]

Or maybe a defending champion defending his title in London, England is harder to defend than in any other part of the world.

Sure thing, fighters always struggle with the thin air in high-altitude England, and then there is the scorching heat and terrible humidity to consider, its a terrible climate to acclimatise to.