Fight of the Week #6: Roberto Duran v. Iran Barkley

Hell of a fight. I had Duran narrowly ahead, but it was close. Barkley is underrated these days.

 

I hope to find time to score this one. I rewatched it a few months ago and Barkley landed a lot of good shots.

 

Good choice! Looking forward to watching this again and scoring it properly for the first time.

 

I scored for IB 115-113. I scored 2,3,5,6,7,8,12 for IB, I scored 1,9,10,11 for RD and scored round 4 even. RD had a two point round with the knockdown in round 11. IB fought the whole 36 minutes while RD did flashy work. It was a good fight, IB never could figure out how to stop RD's right hand. IB landed a lot of left hooks but most of the time he didn't transfer his weight to the rear foot. That took away from his power and also affected his balance and it probably contributed to him being so vulnerable to RD's right.

This was a good fight, RD gave up size, and strength, but he was an exceptionally skilled fighter. IB was busy and he kept the pressure on RD. I can understand how someone could have scored this fight for RD, but unless the fight looked much different from ringside, I don't know how that judge scored 118-110 for RD? IMO, it was a close fight regardless of the winner.

Edit: the commentators, Bernstein and Clancy were good too. They always were, individually or together.

 

I have only watched this fight twice and don’t remember scoring it or what score I had if I did. Based on the eye test I never felt like Barkley won, but that is not the same as scoring a fight. I like your take and will try to mine later today!

 

Rd 1 Duran 10-9
Rd 2 Barkley 19-19
Rd 3 Duran (Duran 29-28)

Barkley starts strong behind a sharp strong jab with plenty of snap, mixing in some upper cuts and hooks thrown with bad intentions but not really finding home. Duran doing some nice work inside of the jab going to the body. Barkley edging rd 1 for me till Duran counters Barkley’s jab staggering him back to the ropes and taking the round away from Iran.

Barkley works the jab good again and backs Duran to the ropes where the both score solid digs to the body. This makes me remember it was the FOTY. Barkley does not get careless with his jab this round and takes a close round for me.

Duran is doing a good job beating Barkley to the jab, and countering it when Iran gets off first. Barkley’s jab seems a little lazier and Duran seems to use that to score his own and get inside. Barkley does ok inside but he seems to be letting Duran dictate the tempo. I liked Barkley’s jab and hook combo he was using and hope he gets back to it.

 

Same here ,brilliant fight for all the right reasons .Could watch it again and again .

 

Well....then....watch it again....and post a card ;-)

 

I've also got Duran slightly ahead .Which is a lot different from how I predicted it would go ..Barkley stopping Duran late .After the Hearns ko by Iran and Duran s age etc I just couldn't see any other result ..But I was proud of Roberto that night .

 

4 Barkley 38-38
5 Barkley (Barkley 48-47)
6 Duran 57-57
7 Even 67-67
8 Barkley (Barkley 77-76)
9 Duran 86-86
10 Duran 96-95
11 Duran 10-8 (Duran 106-103)
12 Duran (Duran 116-112)

I think this fight was much closer than my card. I think of Antuofermo Minter I where many rounds could go either way. To me the first 7 rounds and the 12th could be given to either guy without a major complaint from me. That means 8 out of 12 rounds could be swing rounds.

I am not sure why Barkley got lazy with his jab from 4-7. Even when he was taking rounds (I had Barkley up 38-37 2-1-1 during those 4) he was getting outjabbed and trying to land a big punch. To me if he had used the jab like he did in rounds 1-2 he could have had a big lead....the commentators certainly thought he did as well as the judge who had Barkley winning. I think Duran edged it.

 

Here's my card and comments, round by round:

1 Duran:
Pretty even round before Duran wobbled Barkley at the end.
2 Barkley:
Quality from both fighters, Barkley just a bit busier.
3 Barkley:
Close - Duran starting rounds slowly then working his way into the round, but Barkley with the better shots just about.
4 Duran:
Great round! Duran started it really well with excellent counters but slacked off in the middle letting Barkley back in with a couple of big rights hands - but then fought back hard at the end to edge it.
5 Duran:
Bit of a slower round but the better stuff from Duran.
6 Duran:
Very close but I feel Duran edged it.
7 Even:
Brilliant stuff from both fighters. Barkley is throwing bludgeoning shots, Duran is the sharpshooter.
8 Barkley:
Big round for Iran! Wobbled Duran at the start and had him under pressure throughout. To his credit, Duran fought back hard and landed a good shot at the end of the round but clearly Barkley's round.
9 Barkley:
Close but thought Barkley was landing the harder shots.
10 Duran:
More brilliance from both fighters. Duran edged the exchanges in terms of quality.
11 Duran (two points):
Great combos from Duran punctuated by a knockdown in the final 30 seconds of the round.
12 Barkley:
Better round from Barkley who took it on busyness.

Duran 115-113 Barkley
Duran wins 6-5-1 in rounds

 

He certainly did. Having just rewatched it, It was the accuracy of Duran's punching that impressed me, though. He was more economical with his output than Barkley but he made it count a bit more imo.

 

One of those fights where the loser deserves just as much credit as the winner.