Ricardo Mayorga 2003 V Lloyd Honeyghan 1986

Bricks · Post by **Bricks** » 25 Jun 2010, 06:33

I remember when Mayorga was at the height of his powers in 2003. I recall exchanging emails with Lloyd and telling him that Mayorga reminded me of him, back when Lloyd reverted from classy boxer/puncher to a more all out slugger during 1987!

Honeyghan was a tremendous boxer at his peak, he had a Benitez like defence, lightning quick reactions, he was strong for the weight, could really punch, and he was very confident. Around the time of his third defence when he slaughtered Hatcher he made a transition to more of a all out slugger. That attitude was the cause of his downfall against Marlon Starling when he lost his title in a fight which was very winnable for Lloyd. His peak years of 1985-1989 were explosive.

Mayorga at his peak seemed to be impervious to pain and had incredible stamina and will to win. People may dismiss him now with the benefit of hindsight but I thought his wins over Six Heads Lewis and Vernan Forrest were very impressive and that he was robbed of his undisputed title against Spinks. Mayorga up to that point seemed like he had one of the very best chins in boxing. Of course in subsequent years the elite of Trinidad, De La Hoya and Mosley showed that wasnt the case.

Anyway I lean towards Lloyd winning this one with his superior punch and boxing skills I do feel if he if he came in less than 100% like he had with Vaca and Starling Mayorga could easily give him a very sereious beat down like Starling did.

Counter-puncher · Post by **Counter-puncher** » 25 Jun 2010, 07:39

coupla things with Honeygan

i agree he went downhill when he changed to being more of a slugger. I wonder personally if trouble making the weight- he was big at 147 and had been making the wight for a long time- affected his fighting style. note, too, that once he left the welterweight div, he was weighing in regularly between 156 and 160, I think. the higher he got in weight, the more uncultured his fighting style and the more he became a blunt instrument.

i saw the Blocker fight again the other night, and Lloyd's new slugger persona (perpetuated by the Bumphus KO?) was in full evidence there. the head and body movement which characterised his early excellence was less evident, and against a tall and well-schooled (not to mention tough) opponent, Honeygan was reduced to being little more than a one-punch-at-a-time hustler who simply out-muscled Blocker

all in all I think Lloyd would end up fighting Mayorga's kind of fight, and losing. Mayorga's being much more effective at 154 would indicate his punch, chin and strength were all probably more than equal to Honeygan's.

gambler49 · Post by **gambler49** » 25 Jun 2010, 07:57

I go for Lloyd by a mid round stoppage or points. BTW I think Lloyd was a good brawler and that style suited him. However like Joe Calzaghe he had weak hands (which is death for a brawler). His peak was a lot shorter then it should of been. When he fought Starling in 1988 he was on the slide. And by the time he fought Breland he was done.

Bricks · Post by **Bricks** » 25 Jun 2010, 10:11

Excellent point about the hands gambler. Lloyds hands were a mess by the time he fought Vaca.

He was a genuine powerpuncher and it didnt suprise me that at one time he held the record for the fastest ko in a world title fight. Anyone who could kayo gianfranco rosi semi conscious with one right hand has something special. Even on the worst night of his life, he managed to wobble the iron chinned Starling and a middleweight Michael Nunn couldn't do that.

The Calzaghe analogy is a good one, because Joe was also an exceptional one shot man at one time , but had to modify his style after his hands became so fragile.

IMO Honeyghan wasn't that big a welter. Certainly Jorge Vaca looked huge next to him. All the time he spent at 154lbs he didnt have anywhere near the same cuts and definition he had at 147. Mayorga though was a genuine big welterweight.

The question is could Lloyd box if he wanted to? Mayorga would be relentless and Lloyd would get sucked in. In 2002-2003 I would have thought Mayorga would stop him, but knowing what I know now that Mayorga could be hurt and kayoed I think Lloyd will manage to score knockout with a bodyshot around round 6-7.

The Vaca rematch also ended with a one punch knockout via a bodyshot and I see a similar ending in this dream fight.

Counter-puncher · Post by **Counter-puncher** » 25 Jun 2010, 10:30

not to be too argumentative, but Lloyd can hammer away at Blocker's body for 12,to no obvious effect, but stops Mayorga that way in rds6-7? i just don't see that, mate.

Bricks · Post by **Bricks** » 25 Jun 2010, 11:55

Counter-puncher wrote:not to be too argumentative, but Lloyd can hammer away at Blocker's body for 12,to no obvious effect, but stops Mayorga that way in rds6-7? i just don't see that, mate.

hehe your not argumentative at all!

and its a very fair question.
In my opinion I base it on the following, as mentioned Honeyghan had scored the fastest knockout in world championship history, he had also kayoed the very durable and awkward world class spolier gianfranco rosi with 1 shot. He would also go on to kayo jorge vaca and yung kil chung with one punch showing his power,and he had hurt don curry pretty badly a year earlier. As we know Mayorga could as it turns out be stopped by world class punchers at 147 like Tito, shane and Oscar. And I very much base it on Honeyghan being in the same bracket power wise.

But I also base it on the following: Blockers chin.

If you go to youtube and watch the british commentary of the honeyghan-blocker fight (all six parts and the post fight interview)

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... ocker&aq=f

The commentators Harry Carpenter and Alan Minter make a pronounced reference to the incredible chin of Blocker to take Lloyds shots, and at the end Mickey Duff in the post fight interview says he beleives Blocker has the best chin since "Muhammed Ali retired", yes it is an exaggeration, but my point is Blocker had a good chin and was undefeated at this stage hence Lloyds inability to stop him the way he did others.

But I totally see your point I may be stretching things to suggest Lloyd could stop Mayorga, In truth I can probably almost as easily see Mayorga mauling Lloyd, as lets face it there havent been too many boxers at their peak as impervious to a shot and as keen to engage in wild brawls as Mayorga. But I just feel Llloyd was one of those guys who on his night could do it all.

banjo · Post by **banjo** » 25 Jun 2010, 13:06

Lloyd to win on points, maybe after a couple of trips to the canvas though.

elmersalsa · Post by **elmersalsa** » 27 Jun 2010, 01:00

It is a hard fight to pick. I pick Mayorga, though.