Donald Curry (born
September 7,
1961) is a retired Fort Worth boxer nicknamed the 'Lone Star Cobra'.
Curry, who had an amateur record of 400-4, made the 1980
United States Olympic team, but could not compete due to the U.S. boycott.
[edit] Amateur Achievements
Claimed an amateur record of 400-6
1979 National AAU 139 lb. champion
1980 National AAU 147 lb. champion
1980 National Golden Gloves 147 lb. Champion
1980 World Cup 147 lb. champion.
1980 United States Olympic Team Member (147 lbs.), did not compete, due to U.S. boycott. Qualified by outpointing Davey Moore.
[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Curry&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Professional career">edit] Professional career
He then started his pro career and put together an undefeated streak that culminated in a 15-round points win over
Jun-Suk Hwang of
South Korea in 1983, giving Curry the then-vacant
WBA welterweight title. He then defended this belt mostly by
KO or TKO, against the likes of
Nino LaRocca,
Elio Diaz, Roger Stafford (whom he beat within a round), and
Colin Jones. Also included in this stretch was a 1984 points win over the future world champion
Marlon Starling to claim the division's new
IBF title, while retaining the WBA title.
Curry was riding on top of the boxing world in December 1985, when he added the
WBC title to his chest of laurels by beating
Milton McCrory in the second round. After defeating McCrory, many considered Curry to be, pound-for-pound, the best boxer in the world.[
weasel words][
citation needed] He made his first defense of the undisputed (WBA/WBC/IBF) title with a second-round stoppage of
Eduardo Rodriguez before his hometown fans in March 1986, but his status as world Welterweight champion would last only six more months as
Briton Lloyd Honeyghan came to
Atlantic City, New Jersey to beat Curry by forcing him to retire after the sixth round.
After winning two fights at junior middleweight against
Tony Montgomery and
Carlos Santos in early 1987 (both ending in fifth-round disqualifications due to headbutts on the part of Curry's opponents), Curry had a chance to win another belt in July of that year, this time at the Jr. Middleweight division. His opponent was
Mike McCallum, who held the division's WBA crown. Curry had his moments early on, but in the fifth round, a left hook from McCallum sent Curry reeling to the canvas, and Donald could not beat the 10 second count.
After a couple more wins, Curry did win another title, the WBC junior middleweight title, in July 1988, stopping
Gianfranco Rosi of
Italy after ten rounds. His junior middleweight championship lasted even shorter than that of his welterweight days, however, when he was beaten by
Rene Jacquot of
France in February 1989, losing a 12-round decision and the title in his first defense.
Curry continued to fight and had two more stabs at a title, but came up on the short end both times (more specifically, by
knockout). IBF Middleweight champion
Michael Nunn took him out in the tenth round in
Paris in October 1990, and
Terry Norris, who defended his WBC Junior Middleweight title against Curry, beat him in eight frames in
Palm Springs in June 1991. After that, Curry started training fighters rather than fighting himself.
When Donald's brother,
Bruce Curry, beat
Leroy Haley by a twelve round unanimous decision on
May 18, 1983 at
Las Vegas, Donald and Bruce Curry became the first pair of siblings in the history of boxing to hold world titles at the same time.
Donald attempted a comeback in 1996. Trained by Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, promoted by Top Rank Boxing and managed by Phil Hamilton of Newport Beach, California, Donald retained the skills and speed that had earlier made him a champion.
In February 1997 Donald fought and defeated junior middleweight Gary Jones in Winnipeg Mannitoba, Canada in a 4th round KO. He then fought a pay per view fight against Emmett Linton April 9, 1997 at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the IBA Light Middleweight title losing in the 7th when his corner asked referee
Richard Steele to stop the fight. Donald fought despite having undiagnosed pancreatitis and being in the midst of renal failure.[
citation needed] Donald returned to Texas to manage and train fighters.
