This was McGuigans finest hour. That fight in the desert took too much outta him. How ridiculed would it be today to have a world championship fight under the desert sun?
Keep in mind that a lot of people think Laporte should have gotten the decision against a prime Julio Cesar Chavez three fights later. That is how good McGuigan was at this point
Interesting revelation came out not long ago and it’s on RU-vid. Juan LaPorte was asked if he gave it his all against McGuigan and he said no. The gent who was interviewing him was British or Irish and he point blank told LaPorte for years there were rumors that LaPorte didn’t give it his all in the fight and Juan confirmed he didn’t. He didn’t go into details he just said there was things going on before the fight and he wasn’t their to win. I seen the fight years ago and just thought Juan fought a complete shit fight. 1. Barry was a volume puncher but not a big puncher. LaPorte has one of the greatest chins in boxing history and he loved to fight inside toe to toe but in this fight he didn’t. I rewatched it again based on things LaPorte said in the interview and look at round 9?LaPorte’s best round. He caught Barry with a big right hand and started to really come on but with about 25 seconds in the round LaPorte put his hands down and just backed into the ropes and didn’t punch. So now the question is did LaPorte throw the fight? Juan fights win, lose or draw were something to see with the exception of the Wilfredo Gomez fight which LaPorte says he made a mistake and over trained for the fight. With the new information and watching the fight again, as much as I like Barry and it seems Juan respects him as well saying he thinks McGuigan would have beaten Hamed, I have to say this looks like a fix.
Retired fighters always tend to give excuses for losing past fights and exaggerate their biggest wins. Juan was a talented, but lazy fighter, who could be discouraged easily. He had a great right hand when landed, but it wasn't a sneaky punch and usually took in the scenery before contact
I think this is just a simple case of style makes fights. Laporte couldn't seem to get a rhythm from all the jabs and body shots McGuigan was throwing.
@@RRRRapify Yeah I agree mate, Barry swarmed all over Laporte for the entire fight and Laporte couldn’t appear to settle into a rhythm. I think this was Barry’s finest hour, perpetual motion for the entirety of the fight, busy for every second, amazing body shots and jab throughout. Could mix it, used his elbows to great effect and, in my opinion, had a wonderful style. A great era for boxing, Sibson, Paul Hodgkinson, the Christie/Kaylor shenanigans, Hagler/Mugabi to name a few. Peace and Love
Laporte was a gifted power puncher and gifted talent. He had all the physical tools to be one of the greatest except mentally. He didn't train as hard as he should have and sometimes lacked discipline. In this fight the " rumor " was He didn't take into account the jet lag that he needed to adjust to so it affected him badly here especially against Barry of all people.
FFS mate. Barry utterly hammered Juan in this fight. Juan was badly hurt in the final round and was closed to being stopped if the final round had not been miscounted and finished early. To say Juan threw the fight is ludicrous.
