What do you personally make of the No Mas fight?

Ray was as sharp as a tack for that rematch...his performance was very impressive and satisfying, in the manner that Barrera's was vs Hamed...I enjoyed it anyway.

 

IT was bad management to have Roberto defend first against Leonard. He should have had a couple of easy defenses first. But the responsibility is on Duran for allowing it to happen.

Leonard wasn't just teasing and showboating. He was sticking Duran in the face while doing so. While he appeared to me to be an *******, truthfully he did nothing wrong. I say this and I was rooting for Duran.

 

Balderdash!

 

It's a sport, not a street fight. Calling one man "cowardly" for frustrating the other into quitting like a spoiled child seems pretty misguided. Plenty of skill in running--you seem to be pretending that Leonard just turned his back and ran circles around the ring like it was a cartoon or something. Leonard was sticking and moving and Duran was simply helpless to stop it.

 

Did anybody ever accuse Vilomar Fernandez of being cowardly for the way that he ran against Arguello and Duran? Or deny that he was demonstrating skill?

 

Exactly.

 

Duran is such a sacred cow around here that some will never get off the excuses that he was fat and lazy and rushed and blah blah blah.

As if he was the only fighter ever to be put into such positions, and that because he wasn't able (through his own vices and devices) to tick off every single box of preparation before the fight, the result simply doesn't count.

There are actually dumbsh/ts out there that believe this.

 

He did start having some off nights after 70 plus fights, and as he got older.

That's just a fact, as a matter of fact you could see his intensity levels, output, and ability drop or rise in alternate fights. It was obvious when he was not at his best.

You judge him to harshly after his prime, He could still rise to the occasion but needed to have the emotional fire to do it. Sometimes he did not.

When he did, it was amazing.

 

If you're going to give him the props for his amazing performances later, one must also acknowledge that he stunk up the joint sometimes too, and ALL of that is the whole story, not just picking and choosing the highlights. Duran seems to get a pass for all the lowlights.

 

Ali fought plenty of his bouts underprepared and overweight but he had the heart of a bulldog!!

 

Contrary to popular belief not all of Ali fights were pretty to watch, especially later in his career and he did get a couple of gift decisions.

 

He never quit once though did he?

 

I don't know of anyone suggesting the results don't count, of course they do, but neither would I use these fights to justify an outcome in a mythical match up either.

Essentially one of the most macho fighters ever, quite in a fight because he was being taunted.

One of about 120 fights he fought.

Take that for what's it's worth.

 

I'm a big Duran fan. Can't make many excuses for him here though. Leonard's clowning was dumb but his tactics were just sensible. He had already tried "fighting like a man" in the first fight and, while it was a fine performance, he lost. He was there to win, not to earn macho props from a fighter whose response to mockery was to just quit rather than caving his tormentor's face in.