duran is a perfect example of a guys REPUTATION and POPULARITY outstripping his actually ACCOMPLISHMENTS....that's why he's so overrated.
I won't debate or go into volumes about durans career. I'm sure some posters probably touched up on all his great accomplishments. All I'll say about Roberto Duran is this- if he retired in the late 70's after his longstanding reign at LW, he would be seen as arguably one of the greatest 30 fighters in the history of the sport. Aside from Benny Leonard and joe gans, Duran might be the greatest LW in the history of the sport. And it was around this time in the 70's when he was actually a PRIME fighter. Everything he did, say from 1979 on, was a Duran that was out of his prime and fighting guys that were naturally larger than him. That's what makes his accomplishments in the 80's even that much greater.
Roberto Duran was a great champion . But I do have one black mark for him The way he fought Ken Buchanan was despicable. There isn't a foul possible that Duran didn't use in that fight yet referee Johnny Lo Bianco ignored them all. The ending of the fight was BLATANTLY corrupt.. The bell sounded and a good 2 seconds after it Duran blasted Buchanan with a blatant late below the belt foul punch Ken couldn't continue so Lo Bianco awarded the fight to Duran. When interviewed after the fight Lo Bianco said " The punch was on the bell and perfectly legal' Yeah sure that's why Ken spent the night in hospital with his family jewels iced up. He was seriously hurt. If you get a chance watch the tape of the fight you'll hear the bell ring, then see Duran blast the deliberate low blow . Yet another boxing robbery Duran would never give Ken a rematch
Actually Kenny threw 2 punches after the bell had rung and before Duran threw the nut sack shot. The great thing about this fight is that it's on youtube so everyone can see for themselves.
I still think the referee held down Duran's hand when he threw that shot. It looked like he was aiming to the body and the ref pushed down his arm when he threw it and changed the trajectory of the punch
From what I've seen, and read, this is exactly what happened. That said there should have been a rematch, even though the fight itself wasn't all that competitive.
Ken Buchanon was robbed in that fight and you know it. A low blow blatantly after the bell to end the round & referee Johnny Lo Bianco called it LEGAL!!!! Watch the tape of the fight & you'll see the travesty. Duran would never give Ken a rematch I wonder why ?? He probably feared his family jewels would get the same treatment Kens got
\ Sorry don't buy that watch the tape. Lo Bianco robbed Ken Buchannon by allowing a blatant foul by Duran. Shoot Duran had used every dirty trick in the book leading up to that point Lo Bianco looked the other way. Duran went down in my estimation over that fight and the way he refused to give Ken a rematch
For all Buchanan was a class act and I agree he was fouled, any re-match would have still ended in a Duran win. Buchanan was fighting under great pressure in that fight.
I'm going by what I saw. I saw the ref push Duran's hand down and he ended up socking Buchanan in the nuts instead of his stomach
I have watched the tape and I still believe that they were both punching after the bell and Lo Bianco interfered with Duran's punch by changing it's trajectory while the punch was being thrown. What other "dirty tricks" did Duran use, be specific cause I want to see them with my own eyes.
He wasn't robbed at all, he was getting the ****ped kicked out of him from start to finish, which is why Lo Bianco didn't want to give the fight to Buchanan on what he perceived to be a fake low blow. Admittedly it could have been refereed better but it wasn't a very close fight. Gil Clancy, who was Buchanan's trainer said a rematch wasn't really necessary. The only strategy they had to beat Duran was to hope he would tire out, and he never. But Buchanan had no tools whatsoever to deal with Duran. All that aside, they did sign for a rematch and reneged so I agree Buchanan deserved a rematch, but I really don't see how the outcome would have been any different.