If Leonard had boxed Duran in the first ft like he did the rematch , what's the result?

As I recall from the pre-fight interviews, Dundee predicted an early KO of Duran. He was just too small to be taken seriously, so he thought that the larger Leonard could easily overpower him. Post-fight they were impressed by his technical prowess and deceptive hand speed.

 

With a forum filled with as many knowledgeable fans such as this one I find it surprising how off the track so many are with this topic. An in shape, mentally focused, 29 year old Duran is a tough task to navigate. Somebody with the speed and skill of Ray Leonard can just "box and move" and "hit and don't get hit" against pretty much an 147 pounder that ever lived.

But when you come up against somebody like Duran it's not that simple. He's just too talented and gifted to just slap and run away from when he's in his best form. Why do you guys think that a great pressure fighter is hard to deal with unless you have a great punch? It's because they cut off the ring, don't give you any room, keep the pressure relentless. A pressure fighter takes control of the fight, and dictates the real estate of the ring.

It's not like Ray could just roam around wherever he wanted to. When Ray backed up Roberto followed him. When Ray went left or right Roberto followed him.

You can't just box and move against a guy who is attached to your hip the entire night.

 

This thread is ******ed really. It doesn't take into account that Duran wasn't the same Duran, so it wasn't a common denominator for both fights in order to correctly compare them. SRL never fights like he did in N.O. without the Montreal fight. So he wouldn't have fought that way in Montreal because he needed that to happen in order for him to know that he can't put Duran away as easily as he thought, and that he can't just circle and box like he did with Wilfred and most of his fights that got him the title. Duran isn't going to let him fight that type of fight, and when he doesn't, you can't just bully him and get him out of there. There is just no way to accurately address the question when well know facts are dismissed and factors aren't the same.

 

Good post. It's just absolutely ridiculous the narrative here. People actually believe that Leonard had a binary choice of either boxing and moving or standing and trading. It's dumb.

 

A lot of early Sugar Ray fans, who at the same time had followed Duran's move up the ranks, and by-passing the Jr. Welter Division, knew what Duran's goal was, and were concerned of the Fight 1 outcome...from the day it was signed. SRL could have taken a Benitez rematch, and let Hearns take on Duran...Ray being the "business man" he later became.

 

Duran just didn't have the size or foot speed to stop Leonard from running and moving laterally, if Leonard fully committed to doing so, like he did in the second fight. Leonard was extremely fast and difficult to cut off when he decided to move. Even "Montreal Duran" wasn't some superhuman demon...

 

End of the day a fit and motivated Duran (one of the best fighters ever) took it to a talented boxer and fought one hell of a fight.

His psyche and ability got to SRL which forced him to fight that way.

Leonard, also a fantastic fighter, learned from defeat and improved. Combined with Duran not being ready for the rematch, Leonard grew as a fighter in between fights. He lost to Duran because it was what it was.

 

Duran was good enough that Leonard was not afforded just some binary choice of moving and boxing or standing and trading.

 

if Ray boxes in the first fight he wins a UD.

 

Could see that. But Roberto had him scared s***less

 

Ray needed that first fight experience to learn how to focus and fight a gameplan. It made him a greater fighter.. He learned that winning fights can be done outside the ring a little before getting in..

 

True, and also how to be a bit devious and manipulative to the point of disrepecting the sport. But that is another conversation for another time lol.

 

I agree with you. The winning two titles in one night thing was about him and not the sport. And it was not right..

 

Duran by decision. He was in the best shape of his life and wouldn't be denied. Another way of looking at the question is had Duran trained as hard for the second fight as the first, would Leonard have been able to stick and move like he did? But it's all academic, really. Duran deserves all the credit for the first fight and Leonard deserves all the credit for the second fight. History doesn't need rewriting as the story of both fights was fantastic enough.

 

Ray was too good for Duran, who really did not do well against the other greats he fought Benitez,Hearns, Hagler.. All losses and easy ones. I figure Ray would win an easy decision, but Ray fighting Duran's fight helped the fab 4 era.