Don Curry's amateur record, 397-3?

[Alister]

According to a book I have called "Boxing - Heroes and Legends", Don Curry turned pro after 400 amateurfights, in which he went 397-3!
This sounds almost too good to be true, can anyone verify this?

Also, I know Curry was going to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics until the boicott, but surely he must have won a hell of a lot of other amateur tournaments before the Olympic Box-off?
Can anyone tell me more about Curry's amateur career?
Thanks!

Alister

[knockout artist]

According to a book I have called "Boxing - Heroes and Legends", Don Curry turned pro after 400 amateurfights, in which he went 397-3!
This sounds almost too good to be true, can anyone verify this?

Also, I know Curry was going to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics until the boicott, but surely he must have won a hell of a lot of other amateur tournaments before the Olympic Box-off?
Can anyone tell me more about Curry's amateur career?
Thanks!

Alister

Its true.

Curry left all his fight in the Amateurs.

[zurdo]

I don't think that record is correct....I know Curry had a very outstanding amatuer record...but I don't think it was quite that good..

I can recall seeing very young Donald Curry lose an amatuer fight once..(rather one-sidedly too I might add) on national TV in a dual meet against Cuba..He was pretty much outclassed in that fight .. Granted it was to one of those badass Cubans but I still can't imagine he only lost two more times in 400 fights

[Nile4000]

According to a book I have called "Boxing - Heroes and Legends", Don Curry turned pro after 400 amateurfights, in which he went 397-3!
This sounds almost too good to be true, can anyone verify this?

Also, I know Curry was going to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics until the boicott, but surely he must have won a hell of a lot of other amateur tournaments before the Olympic Box-off?
Can anyone tell me more about Curry's amateur career?
Thanks!

Alister

He won a National Golden Gloves in 1980 and a National AAU in '79 or'78.

[locoxelbox]

Curry turned pro at 19 years. No way he had 400 amateur fights. He would need another ten years.

[jyuza]

Curry turned pro at 19 years. No way he had 400 amateur fights. He would need another ten years.

He could ave made been made it ... with something like 2 fights/week in 4 years.

[zuru]

Curry turned pro at 19 years. No way he had 400 amateur fights. He would need another ten years.

I had always heard that Curry had right around 400 fights as well.

[Nile4000]

Curry turned pro at 19 years. No way he had 400 amateur fights. He would need another ten years.

I had always heard that Curry had right around 400 fights as well.

Whatever the case( I always heard the figure around 400 too), he was a pretty good amateur.

[boxinghead]

I know a kid with 100 amateur fights at the age of 11. 400 amateur boxing matches is not that hard. The unbelievable part is the record. It's amazing so many matches were accepted with a record so good. Usually once your record gets too good, it's hard for you to get amateur matches. Dusty H. from Washington D.C. has over 100 amateur fights at 11.

[locoxelbox]

400 amateur fights at 19?? I don't believe it.
You say this Dusty H has 100 fights at 11 years old. Are you sure they are licensed fights? When did he start fighting?
Even if Don Curry had 100 fights at 11 years old he must do 37.5 fights/year in 8 years to reach 400 at 19. That's impossible.
And if it is possible it's crazy. Why would he want to burn himself out like that?

[Boxer-Slugger]

Curry turned pro at 19 years. No way he had 400 amateur fights. He would need another ten years.

He could ave made been made it ... with something like 2 fights/week in 4 years.

The guy probably started boxing at age 11, so make it 8 years=400 fights

[boxinghead]

All Dusty H fights are legal. You can box twice every seven days. A tournament is considered one fight. You could approx. have up to 6 or 7 bouts a month. He travels to NY, Baltimore, NJ , and in the D.C. area. I know he just fought Saturday and Friday of last week. You could fight a max of 70 bouts a year. This kid is at a pace to do 400. Maxell Taylor out of Baltimore turned pro at 18 or 19 and had about 300 amateur bouts. Boxing in the Washington D.C. area you can get a lot of bouts. Sometimes 4-6 shows a month.

[boxinghead]

400 amateur fights at 19?? I don't believe it.
You say this Dusty H has 100 fights at 11 years old. Are you sure they are licensed fights? When did he start fighting?
Even if Don Curry had 100 fights at 11 years old he must do 37.5 fights/year in 8 years to reach 400 at 19. That's impossible.
And if it is possible it's crazy. Why would he want to burn himself out like that?

Some guys spar 8 three minute rounds hard about 3 times a week. What's worse, three one minute rounds in front of a crowd, or 24 minutes of sparring. At least a sanctioned bout would make sure your opponent is within 5 or 7 pounds.

[locoxelbox]

All Dusty H fights are legal. You can box twice every seven days. A tournament is considered one fight. You could approx. have up to 6 or 7 bouts a month. He travels to NY, Baltimore, NJ , and in the D.C. area. I know he just fought Saturday and Friday of last week. You could fight a max of 70 bouts a year. This kid is at a pace to do 400. Maxell Taylor out of Baltimore turned pro at 18 or 19 and had about 300 amateur bouts. Boxing in the Washington D.C. area you can get a lot of bouts. Sometimes 4-6 shows a month.

There is a huge risk he's gonna get burned out before he's 20. There's no need to fight that much. There are periods when you must concentrate on training and improving technical skills. His coach never heard of periodization? We're talking about kids, you can't rush things. Many countries has a limit for bouts/year. Like 15-20 bouts/year for boxers under 18 years old. In Argentina you can't fight more than once every 12 days. Exceptions only for tournaments where you can fight up to five bouts in a week. This way we can protect the boxers in a better way.

[zurdo]

400 amateur fights at 19?? I don't believe it.
You say this Dusty H has 100 fights at 11 years old. Are you sure they are licensed fights? When did he start fighting?
Even if Don Curry had 100 fights at 11 years old he must do 37.5 fights/year in 8 years to reach 400 at 19. That's impossible.
And if it is possible it's crazy. Why would he want to burn himself out like that?

Donald Curry certainly was an extrodinary talent.

He might not have reached his full potential as a world champ But as an amatuer and young pro The Cobra was really something...

Since Curry was probably always quicker and more atheletically gifted than 99.9 percent of the guys he fought , most likely he had lots of fights which were quite a bit easier than they would be for an average mortal. Thats how he was able to rack up 400 fights.
The simple answer: He was able fight so much cause he was really good

[boxinghead]

I totally agree with you. Some trainers train and some let the ring train for them. What you say makes a lot of since. How many World Champions come out of Argentina. No matter what the rules are the trainer has to know what they are doing. You can be a gym rat and get burned out. Lack of competition bouts can burn you out. Too much training with no bouts. These are kids and they have time to learn.

[Nile4000]

400 amateur fights at 19?? I don't believe it.
You say this Dusty H has 100 fights at 11 years old. Are you sure they are licensed fights? When did he start fighting?
Even if Don Curry had 100 fights at 11 years old he must do 37.5 fights/year in 8 years to reach 400 at 19. That's impossible.
And if it is possible it's crazy. Why would he want to burn himself out like that?

Donald Curry certainly was an extrodinary talent.

He might not have reached his full potential as a world champ But as an amatuer and young pro The Cobra was really something...

Since Curry was probably always quicker and more atheletically gifted than 99.9 percent of the guys he fought , most likely he had lots of fights which were quite a bit easier than they would be for an average mortal. Thats how he was able to rack up 400 fights.
The simple answer: He was able fight so much cause he was really good

I would love to see a tape of his fight vs Moore at the Olympic Trials.

[boxmel]

I'm a bit sceptical about Curry having 400 bouts - as I am with the kid from Washington having 100 bouts at age 11.

Curry could have started at age 5 or thereabouts. In those days, there were no passbooks to record actual competitions - that's why it's hard to determine how many bouts the old timers actually had. For instance, Oscar had 255 recorded bouts from age 10 to age 19. That is only counting his recorded bouts - I know he had bouts prior to age 10, but there is no record of them. However, I think it's pushing it to say that Curry had 400 bouts - and I highly doubt that he only lost three.

I have a really hard time believing the 11 year old has 100 bouts. I'd love to see his passbook for verification. Even if he was first registered at age 8, it would be extremely difficult to get 100 bouts in three years unless, of course, he boxed 2 times a week in local shows (he would have competed 96 times in one year (2 X 4 weeks), plus any tournaments he participated in - he would actually have more than 100 bouts if the preceeding was true. And, please remember, you don't count walk overs or unopposed as part of your record. It has to be actual bouts.

The So. Calif. Assn. is the busiest in the U.S. and we have 2 if not 3 shows every weekend, including tournaments (each bout is counted). Even the boxers in our Assn. don't get bouts every single weekend. And we don't have any 11 year olds with 100 bouts.

[locoxelbox]

Nobody can fight every weekend. There are holidays, the body and the mind needs rest, etc. Kids go to school, they go for vacations, they get ill, etc.
Anybody knows the international record of Curry? According to boxing-records.com Curry has six defeats.

[boxinghead]

I've been watching this kid for a long time. Since eight. I'm not making this up. His father trains him, and I've seen him bring his son an opponent out of their own gym to match his son at a show. He was on local radio and TV for having his 100th bout. He is still going. If there is a way to check in Colorado, you would see. CA is so big that you should have 3-4 shows in that state. The only problem is distance. If you don't make it to one show, you won't travel two hours to get on the next. DC area shows compete with Baltimore, which is only 45 minutes away. Usually if your not on one show, you can make it to the other in no time. A little over 2 bouts a month would get you to 100 by 11. Now try 3-4 times a month. That could get you at least 40. If there is a match, this guy will come. Ask any coach on the East Coast. They know this guy. Not because of his win record, but because of activity. Check out Maxell Taylor. About 300 or more amateur bouts, and turned pro by 19.

[boxmel]

His father trains him, and I've seen him bring his son an opponent out of their own gym to match his son at a show.

Ahhhh - now I see the picture. Poor kid. Hope he isn't burned out by the time he's 16 or 17.

If there is a way to check in Colorado, you would see

There isn't any way to check outside of looking at the boxer's passbook.

CA is so big that you should have 3-4 shows in that state. The only problem is distance. If you don't make it to one show, you won't travel two hours to get on the next. DC area shows compete with Baltimore, which is only 45 minutes away.

I don't get your above point. I was speaking about the Southern California Assn. - we have 4 LBCs in California. The Southern California Assn. (from Santa Maria to Oceanside to Blythe to the ocean) has two, if not three, shows evey weekend, let along tournaments. With the exception of Santa Maria and the Coachella Valley, most shows are within 45 minutes to an hour away, at the most, from where the boxers live and they don't have to travel far.

Ask any coach on the East Coast. They know this guy. Not because of his win record, but because of activity.

What's this phenoms name? Has he participated in the Silver Gloves national championships yet? Or the Ringside tournament?

Check out Maxell Taylor. About 300 or more amateur bouts, and turned pro by 19.

I know Maxell and he didn't have 300+ amateur bouts. He may have had around 200, from the time he started competing - don't forget the time he spent at Northern Michigan University, before he ran away. Maxell was just coming into his prime when he turned pro. Saw him on TV not too long ago and cried with him when he lost. His little brother is pretty good -and looks just like him.

A tournament is considered one fight.

A tournament is considered one event but every time you compete it counts as a bout, no matter how many times you compete.

[boxmel]

Said Nile4000:

Since Curry was probably always quicker and more atheletically gifted than 99.9 percent of the guys he fought , most likely he had lots of fights which were quite a bit easier than they would be for an average mortal. Thats how he was able to rack up 400 fights.
The simple answer: He was able fight so much cause he was really good

Whether a boxer is good or not has absolutely nothing to do with how many bouts he gets! An amateur boxer goes to a local show and he either gets a bout or he doesn't. He goes to a tournament and, depending on the draw and the number of boxers in his weight class, may get as many as 5, or as little as 1, bouts during that tournament. That has nothing to do with being quicker or more athletically gifted - and easier bouts still only count as one.

[boxinghead]

a boxers skill has a lot to do with the number of bouts he gets. A good boxer might not get any bouts at local shows. He may get dodged a lot. The average coach out there looks for the win. Some coaches may think ahead, but most want that win. If the average coach has a choice of a kid they lost to 5 times or a kid they beat 5 times, depending on how many fans they bring to the show, the 5 times already beat will get that match.

[boxmel]

Yep - a good boxer probably will not get matched up at a local show, therefore he may not have as many bouts as a boxer who isn't that good and does get matches. I don't have much regard for coaches who take the easy way out and don't allow their kids to learn by boxing someone better or with more experience. There are even those coaches who will not move up their boxer to a correct weight class just because they think the boxer will lose.