The Duran that beat Leonard in Montreal was quick, fast, and powerful, never again was he ever even close to that level.
Barkley was 6ft 1, weighed 159 to Duran s 156. And of course Duran was 37. To get in there against Iran and at times go toe to toe!! Great fight. Got good memories watching that.
Going with a close fight against Halger, a former lightweight going a close fight against a true ATG legend who destroyed Hearns.
I'm going to mention Davey Moore as one of his best wins because people forget how good it was. Moore was a young, fast punching, hard hitting and tough as nails champion. He smashed our local champion a guy called Charlie Weir, who was known as a bit of a wrecking ball himself. Ayub Kalule was another Moore victim. Duran was viewed as yesterday's news and everybody saw the fight as a stepping stone for Moore. We all know what happened: Moore was completely outclassed and his career went off a cliff.
The question is what was his second greatest win. The first is IMO a no brainer and "best" just isn't apt
Actually felt quite sorry for Moore. Talk about getting Hammered. And that tragic ending to his life.
Surely it’s got to be the Leonard win? Buchanan is a great win, but to move up and beat an all time welterweight great surely trumps it.
Buchanan or DeJesus III. It just depends what you are looking for. I'd have no problem with peeps placing Barkley 2. Buchanan was an amazing raw performance against a tough seasoned classy boxer, a superb one. DeJesus III was one of the most complete if not the most complete performances on film at 135. Duran was the complete package at this point and his level simply insane. Two such different showings and you can absolutely pick either one based on your vices. The win over Barkley is far ahead of the win over Moore for mine. Moore had 12 pro fights under his belt and don't get me wrong, he was still a good fighter with enormous heart and a solid am background but everybody thought Duran was shot. It was still mind boggling how much of a clinic he out on and a savage one at that. Barkley tho, that was 6 years later and at a higher weight. Incredible. If you were inclined to take all the intangibles into account you could easily slip it into #2. Tho i'd disagree i wouldn't debate someone picking it as numero uno.
Good un John. I like DeJesus too, for me it puts a capital stop on their rivalry and shows how Duran had grown. Lot of people like the Barkley one. It's maybe cos its still relatively recent in a lot of minds. It was Duran last great performance, he shocked us all, again. It was like he d really stepped back in time and brought out the old Duran back.
Take a look at Duran’s win immediately preceding Barkley, a split 10-round decision over 16-3 Jeff Lanas. The idea of this Duran beating Barkley is ridiculous, but of course it wasn’t this Duran who showed up. This content is protected
There's a big difference between the best win and the best performance... HIs best performance was DeJesus 3
Like most here, I feel Duran’s win over Ray Leonard was his best. But you make a good point. The Barkley fight was huge. Iran was a brutally tough middle weight in his prime and Roberto had long since seen better days and in much lighter divisions. Most greats would have lost under those exact circumstances.
