Marlon Starling on career, fighting Donald Curry, beating Mark Breland and challenging Michael Nunn

‘Magic Man’ Marlon Starling had a very accomplished career, as he compiled a 45-6-1 record and was a two time champion, winning both the WBA & WBC welterweight titles. He fought Mark Breland, Donald Curry, Michael Nunn and also had two wins over Floyd Mayweather in a career that spanned over ten years. I recently had a chance to speak with Marlon to discus how he got into the sport and the road he took to get his title shot. I talked with him about winning the title and his journey all the way to middleweight. Here is what Marlon Starling had to say.

Robert Brown: Can you tell us what got you into the sport of boxing?

Marlon Starling: I was a kid and I used to play football, and I had a football game and they blew me out of a play. I had a friend of mine that was boxing and he asked me to come down to the gym with him. I went down to the gym with him and he said, “Come on get in,” and I said to him, “I’m not getting in that ring.” That was the Ali times and I just kept going back to the gym and eventually I fell in love with the sport of boxing.

Robert Brown: Back in your day, you had to have about thirty fights before you got a title shot. Do you think fighters these days value the titles as much?

Marlon Starling: You are so right, but you know what? It took me almost fifty fights before I got a title shot, that’s a lot of fights. My thing with the sport was, I didn’t want to fight for the championship of the world, I wanted to win the championship of the world.

Robert Brown: Out of all the fighters you faced, who was the best of those fighters?

Marlon Starling: I think the best of those fighters was Donald Curry. Donald Curry was a fighter that did nothing great but everything good. He was a fighter like I was, he knew how to box and he knew how to fight. In every boxing match, there’s gonna be a time when you gotta not back up, you have to say, “I’m not backing up, we have to fight it out here.”

Robert Brown: You won the world title against Mark Breland. What was it like to win a title belt?

Marlon Starling: I knew at the particular time when the fight came up for me to fight Breland, I knew that he didn’t have any longevity. He didn’t fight the tough guys. All the guys that he had beaten for that WBA world title, he didn’t fight anybody, and I felt like I just needed to stay close to him, and if I stayed close I was going to get him coming down the line.

That fight with Mark Breland was the worst fight of my career. I got hit with everything but the kitchen sink, but you know what? When I walked out of there, I was the world champion. I went in that fight weighing maybe 147lbs. I got out of that fight weighing 142.5lbs and I had a broken nose.

Robert Brown: Unfortunately in your third title defense you came up against Tomas Molinares. You got counted out but later on they changed the decision, but you still didn’t get the title back. What are your memories of that fight?

Marlon Starling: I think they were trying to set up Lloyd Honeyghan and Mark Breland, but one thing they couldn’t get over was Marlon Starling was the champion. When I fought Tomas Molinares, everybody who watched that fight knew that I got hit after the bell, but like they say, “Protect yourself at all times.”

Robert Brown: You fought Michael Nunn late in your career. Do you think Nunn would have been able to beat the 1989 version of Sugar Ray Leonard or Tommy Hearns?

Marlon Starling: I don’t think he had the heart and I don’t think he had the punch, but don’t forget, I went up two weight classes to fight him. I don’t think he had the heart and I don’t think he had the power.