BEST SKILLS Ken Buchanan: Buchanan was one of the great lightweights when it came to tactics and skill. His intelligence made him very difficult to beat even though he wasnt a very strong opponent. Sugar Ray Leonard was faster and stronger but Buchanan had tremendous skills. BEST JAB Buchanan: He was tall, boxed well and his lateral movement was extremely good. Buchanans jab was difficult to deal with because he threw it on the move. BEST DEFENSE Buchanan: He was hard to hit cleanly. I was very young, lacked experience, and Buchanan had been world champion for a long time. A lot of people will expect me to say Wilfred Benitez or Leonard when it comes to defense but I wasnt prepared properly for Benitez or the Leonard rematch. Davey Moore, who I beat easily, knocked Benitez out so theres no comparison there. I was coming into my prime against Buchanan and he made me miss often. BEST CHIN Marvelous Marvin Hagler: I hit Hagler with a lot of punches and he just kept coming. I didnt find him as skillful as some of the opponents I faced but he was the toughest. BEST PUNCHER Esteban De Jesus: De Jesus was the first opponent to knock me down and he had me down again in the second fight. When I lost to Thomas Hearns I was drained from losing weight too quickly, and that had a bad effect on me. Hearns got me with a great punch but I could have performed far better in a rematch. Marvin Hagler, who is a good friend of mine, told Hearns the only reason he knocked me out is because I wasnt at my best. FASTEST HANDS Sugar Ray Leonard: He was the fastest fighter I ever fought but in the first fight I saw everything that was coming at me. FASTEST FEET Buchanan: At lightweight the opponents were much swifter on their feet and, back then, we were boxing in 15-round fights. Buchanan always kept on the move but I caught up with him eventually. That victory means a lot to me. SMARTEST Leonard: Its hard to give you one name but Leonard stands out because he made adjustments during fights. STRONGEST Hagler: It was an extremely close fight but he got me tired late. Even though I built myself up to middleweight, Hagler was much bigger and used his strength on the inside. After making weight, a fighter rehydrates and there was a big difference there. Still, even when I was tired, Hagler couldnt get me down. There was no way I was going to get the decision but some fans and reporters thought Id done enough. Hagler had big American fights pending with Leonard and Hearns so there was a lot of money at stake. BEST OVERALL Leonard: I have to say Sugar Ray Leonard because look at what he did in his career after he lost to me. It takes a lot to come back from defeat and Leonard did it.
'The Ring' website do a regular 'Best I faced' feature on-line, the only positive about that once great magazine since it became a PR machine for Golden Boy Promotions. For what it's worth, Duran was like 90% of the guys who've taken part; keen to credit guys they beat and down-play opponents they looked awful against.
Yeah, one thing this series makes clear is that you probably shouldn't put too much stock in it when a fighter says that "X" opponent hit harder than "Y" or was faster, etc. Fascinating series though.
Because you'll know better eh? Tbh some of these best of's will be written with a bit of bitterness but on the other hand a lot of posters won't like what's written because it goes against their opinions and agendas.
Look. If a fighter says something surprising that seems to be in tension wth a large body of other evidence and doesn't offer a particularly compelling explanation for it, anyone with sense would think about it long and hard before accepting it as Truth. Only a naive sap would change his mind based strictly on the fighter's subjective recollections and comparisons of events from decades past (and sometimes many years apart) in such a situation. Do you agree or disagree?
And I don't think it's just about fighters being "bitter." Memories fade and distort over time. We forget things and the things we think we remember are actually influenced by other sources of information (things we read and hear about the events, etc.). This is particularly problematic for someone who had a career as long as Duran's. How in the world would we expect him to be able to look back and accurately compare all of his fights from 45 years ago to his fights from 35 years ago to his fights from 25 years ago?
I didn't know that Hagler and Duran had become friends. I'd like to see them chuckling merrily over lunch.
Shading Benitez Benitez showed awesome defense against Duran Saying Moore knocked out Benitez and he knocked out Moore, therefore Benitez could not have had great defense. Benitez broke his ankle and still slipped almost all of Moore's followup. It was stopped because of his broken ankle. LOL Sounds like logic by some on here.
Yes I agree but I don't thinks this applies to what Duran has said here. I feel anybody in disagreement are just salty because it goes against their opinion.