| Marlon Starling | |
| Nickname: | Magic Man |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in[1] |
| Reach: | 74 in |
| Birth Date: | August 29, 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Hartford, Connecticut |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 52 |
| Wins: | 45 |
| Ko: | 27 |
| Losses: | 6 |
| Draws: | 1 |
Marlon Starling (born August 29, 1959)[2] 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.[3]
See main article: Mark Breland vs. Marlon Starling, Marlon Starling vs. Mark Breland II, Marlon Starling vs. Tomás Molinares, Lloyd Honeyghan vs. Marlon Starling and Michael Nunn vs. Marlon Starling. 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.[4] 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).
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Age | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | Loss | 45–6–1 | Maurice Blocker | MD | 12 | Aug 19, 1990 | ||||
| 52 | Loss | 45–5–1 | Michael Nunn | MD | 12 | Apr 14, 1990 | ||||
| 51 | Win | 45–4–1 | Young Kil Jung | UD | 12 | Sep 15, 1989 | ||||
| 50 | Win | 44–4–1 | Lloyd Honeyghan | TKO | 9 (12), | Feb 4, 1989 | ||||
| 49 | 43–4–1 | Tomás Molinares | NC | 6 (12), | Jul 29, 1988 | |||||
| 48 | Draw | 43–4–1 | Mark Breland | SD | 12 | Apr 16, 1988 | ||||
| 47 | Win | 43–4 | Fujio Ozaki | UD | 12 | Feb 5, 1988 | ||||
| 46 | Win | 42–4 | Mark Breland | TKO | 11 (15), | Aug 22, 1987 | ||||
| 45 | Win | 41–4 | Norberto Bueno | KO | 3 (10), | Jun 5, 1987 | ||||
| 44 | Win | 40–4 | Pedro Vilella | UD | 10 | Feb 18, 1987 | ||||
| 43 | Win | 39–4 | Roberto Mendez | TKO | 4 (10), | Oct 30, 1986 | ||||
| 42 | Win | 38–4 | Dexter Smith | KO | 5 (10) | Sep 19, 1986 | ||||
| 41 | Loss | 37–4 | Johnny Bumphus | TD | 6 (12) | May 18, 1986 | ||||
| 40 | Win | 37–3 | Ralph Twinning | TKO | 7 (10) | Apr 6, 1986 | ||||
| 39 | Win | 36–3 | Leo Davis | KO | 2 (10), | Jan 24, 1986 | ||||
| 38 | Win | 35–3 | Simon Brown | SD | 12 | Nov 22, 1985 | ||||
| 37 | Win | 34–3 | Reggie Miller | UD | 10 | Aug 7, 1985 | ||||
| 36 | Win | 33–3 | Floyd Mayweather Sr. | UD | 12 | Apr 26, 1985 | ||||
| 35 | Loss | 32–3 | Pedro Vilella | MD | 12 | Jun 15, 1984 | ||||
| 34 | Win | 32–2 | Lupe Aquino | UD | 12 | Apr 17, 1984 | ||||
| 33 | Loss | 31–2 | Donald Curry | UD | 15 | Feb 4, 1984 | ||||
| 32 | Win | 31–1 | Bob Graddy | KO | 3 (10), | Nov 26, 1983 | ||||
| 31 | Win | 30–1 | Sammy Rookard | TKO | 5 (10) | Nov 10, 1983 | ||||
| 30 | Win | 29–1 | Tommy Ayers | MD | 12 | Jul 24, 1983 | ||||
| 29 | Win | 28–1 | Kevin Howard | UD | 12 | Apr 23, 1983 | ||||
| 28 | Win | 27–1 | Jose Baret | KO | 4 (10) | Feb 5, 1983 | ||||
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | Manuel Madera | KO | 3 (10), | Jan 7, 1983 | ||||
| 26 | Loss | 25–1 | Donald Curry | SD | 12 | Oct 23, 1982 | ||||
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Inocencio De la Rosa | UD | 10 | Sep 10, 1982 | ||||
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Kevin Morgan | TKO | 1 (12), | Jul 17, 1982 | ||||
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Babilah McCarthy | TKO | 9 (10), | Jun 5, 1982 | ||||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Ricardo Raul Camoranesi | KO | 3 (10), | Apr 23, 1982 | ||||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Jose Luis Santana | KO | 1 (10), | Mar 22, 1982 | ||||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Danny Paul | UD | 10 | Jan 29, 1982 | ||||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Jack Morrell | TKO | 2 (10), | Aug 28, 1981 | ||||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Juan Hidalgo | TKO | 5 (10), | Jun 25, 1981 | ||||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Johnny Cooper | TKO | 1 (10), | May 29, 1981 | ||||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Miguel Angel Hernandez | TKO | 8 (10), | Apr 24, 1981 | ||||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Floyd Mayweather Sr. | UD | 10 | Mar 9, 1981 | ||||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Bruce Strauss | KO | 2 (10), | Feb 9, 1981 | ||||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Ruby Ortiz | UD | 10 | Jan 16, 1981 | ||||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Curtis Taylor | UD | 10 | Nov 25, 1980 | ||||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Dave Bolden | TKO | 3 (8), | Nov 3, 1980 | ||||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Benji Goldstone | TKO | 5 (8), | Jun 20, 1980 | ||||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Eddie Campbell | UD | 8 | May 23, 1980 | ||||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Feliciano Cintron | TKO | 6 (8), | Apr 8, 1980 | ||||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Frank Minnigan | TKO | 4 (8), | Feb 28, 1980 | ||||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Charles Newell | KO | 7 (8) | Jan 9, 1980 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | John Saxton | TKO | 4 (6), | Nov 5, 1979 | ||||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Hector Ortiz | PTS | 6 | Oct 17, 1979 | ||||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jerry North | PTS | 4 | Sep 27, 1979 | ||||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Hubert Jackson | UD | 4 | Sep 7, 1979 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Tim LaValley | TKO | 3 (4), | Jul 27, 1979 |