Marlon Starling (born August 29, 1959) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1990. He held the WBA welterweight title from 1987 to 1988 and the WBC welterweight title from 1989 to 1990.
Professional boxing career
Starling was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1959. He got his start with help from coach, Johnny Duke, who helped him train for the national Junior Olympics championship. He turned professional in 1979. After 25 straight wins to start his professional career, he lost his first fight, a 12-round split-decision to Donald Curry in 1982. Starling had a rematch with Curry in 1984, challenging for the WBA and IBF welterweight titles. Starling lost by a 15-round decision. Starling's fighting style features what is referred to as a high guard.
Starling's second world title fight came in 1987. He knocked out Mark Breland in the 11th round to win the WBA welterweight title. In his third title defense, Starling lost the title in controversial fashion to Tomas Molinares. Molinares hit Starling with a punch that was thrown around the same time as the bell sounded to end round six. Starling went down for the only time in his career, and the referee counted him out. Molinares was declared the new champion by knock out. However, the decision was later changed to a no contest but the Colombian kept the title.
In 1989, Starling knocked out Lloyd Honeyghan to win the WBC welterweight titles. The following year, Starling challenged Michael Nunn for the IBF middleweight title, but lost by decision. In his next fight, Starling lost his welterweight titles in a close decision to Maurice Blocker. That was Starling's last fight. He retired with a record of 45-6-1-1 (27 KOs).
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateAgeLocationNotes53Loss Maurice BlockerMD12Aug 19, 199052Loss45–5–1 Michael NunnMD12Apr 14, 199051Win45–4–1 Young Kil JungUD12Sep 15, 198950Win44–4–1 Lloyd HoneyghanTKO9 (12),Feb 4, 19894943–4–1 Tomás MolinaresNC6 (12),Jul 29, 198848Draw43–4–1 Mark BrelandSD12Apr 16, 198847Win43–4 Fujio OzakiUD12Feb 5, 198846Win42–4 Mark BrelandTKO11 (15),Aug 22, 198745Win41–4 Norberto BuenoKO3 (10),Jun 5, 198744Win40–4 Pedro VilellaUD10Feb 18, 198743Win39–4 Roberto MendezTKO4 (10),Oct 30, 198642Win38–4 Dexter SmithKO5 (10)Sep 19, 198641Loss37–4 Johnny BumphusTD6 (12)May 18, 198640Win37–3 Ralph TwinningTKO7 (10)Apr 6, 198639Win36–3 Leo DavisKO2 (10),Jan 24, 198638Win35–3 Simon BrownSD12Nov 22, 198537Win34–3 Reggie MillerUD10Aug 7, 198536Win33–3 Floyd Mayweather Sr.UD12Apr 26, 198535Loss32–3 Pedro VilellaMD12Jun 15, 198434Win32–2 Lupe AquinoUD12Apr 17, 198433Loss31–2 Donald CurryUD15Feb 4, 198432Win31–1 Bob GraddyKO3 (10),Nov 26, 198331Win30–1 Sammy RookardTKO5 (10)Nov 10, 198330Win29–1 Tommy AyersMD12Jul 24, 198329Win28–1 Kevin HowardUD12Apr 23, 198328Win27–1 Jose BaretKO4 (10)Feb 5, 198327Win26–1 Manuel MaderaKO3 (10),Jan 7, 198326Loss25–1 Donald CurrySD12Oct 23, 198225Win25–0 Inocencio De la RosaUD10Sep 10, 198224Win24–0 Kevin MorganTKO1 (12),Jul 17, 198223Win23–0 Babilah McCarthyTKO9 (10),Jun 5, 198222Win22–0 Ricardo Raul CamoranesiKO3 (10),Apr 23, 198221Win21–0 Jose Luis SantanaKO1 (10),Mar 22, 198220Win20–0 Danny PaulUD10Jan 29, 198219Win19–0 Jack MorrellTKO2 (10),Aug 28, 198118Win18–0 Juan HidalgoTKO5 (10),Jun 25, 198117Win17–0 Johnny CooperTKO1 (10),May 29, 198116Win16–0 Miguel Angel HernandezTKO8 (10),Apr 24, 198115Win15–0 Floyd Mayweather Sr.UD10Mar 9, 198114Win14–0 Bruce StraussKO2 (10),Feb 9, 198113Win13–0 Ruby OrtizUD10Jan 16, 198112Win12–0 Curtis TaylorUD10Nov 25, 198011Win11–0 Dave BoldenTKO3 (8),Nov 3, 198010Win10–0 Benji GoldstoneTKO5 (8),Jun 20, 19809Win9–0 Eddie CampbellUD8May 23, 19808Win8–0 Feliciano CintronTKO6 (8),Apr 8, 19807Win7–0 Frank MinniganTKO4 (8),Feb 28, 19806Win6–0 Charles NewellKO7 (8)Jan 9, 19805Win5–0 John SaxtonTKO4 (6),Nov 5, 19794Win4–0 Hector OrtizPTS6Oct 17, 19793Win3–0 Jerry NorthPTS4Sep 27, 19792Win2–0 Hubert JacksonUD4Sep 7, 19791Win1–0 Tim LaValleyTKO3 (4),Jul 27, 1979
See also List of world welterweight boxing champions
References
External links