How many times do promoters get it badly wrong?
Yes, that was a classic. Bob Arum offered Eastwood a choice of three: Antonio Rivera (a dangerman), Steve Cruz (a durable stylist), and the Panamanian Jose Marmolejo (unknown, but rough). In truth, they were all tough opponents. Barry ruled out Mamolejo because he'd sparred him in Belfast and said he was a dirty fighter, and they went for Cruz because he was a non-puncher. But Rivera had a stamina problem and McGuigan would almost certainly have outlasted him. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.knockout artist wrote:Barry McGuigan - Stevie Cruz
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knockout artist
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And Cruz was based in Vegas, too. It was a horrible night all round. Tommy Hearns looked lousy against Mark medal, Duran got his arse kicked by Robbie Sims, and McGuigan's rift with Eastwood came to a head. He also fought with a badly swollen ankle, which Eastwood later sued over (and won). But everytime Mcguigan was floored, his ankle seemed to go from under him. I was amazed when Richard Steele, who refereed the fight and testified in the Eastwood-McGuigan libel case, said that the ankle seemed to be fine. That was bollox.knockout artist wrote:Fancy putting a lily white Irishman in with a bronzed mexican in the searing heat of Las Vegas.
A cock-up of gargantuan proportions.
I disagree that Cruz was a bad opponent for McGuigan. The latter would have won 99 times out of 100. But where the shite matchmaking came in were the Eastwood camp's (not necessarily Barney himself though) agreed to fight in a stupid place at a really stupid time. Talk about stacking the deck in the opponent's favour.