Saw a quote from Roberto on a Latino Boxing site talking about the Hearns fight. ,,,,,," I didn't train, I didn't do sh#t . I got fat and it was a nightmare making weight, bear in mind it was Tommy Hearns too. I was just drinking and fu#king and he was losing weight because he was someone dedicated to his sport and I was a shameless *******." Roberto discussing his preparation for the Hearns fight. That does reflect comments from other knowledgeable sources about Duran at that time Gil Clancey being one. It 's not an excuse because it's all on Duran, he was a professional and was supposed to act like one and he was as undisciplined as a drunk teenager. After his win over Leonard you just never knew who would show up, the motivated Duran who bombed Cuevas, Moore, and Barkley. The guy who came within a hair of beating Hagler. Or the slob who lost to Kirkland Laing, and was exhausted after 6 rounds with Robbie Sims. He showed up in pitiful condition against what I think was the best version of Hearns that ever was, and paid the price.
of course it’s on him. When you’re a professional you’re expected to act as such and make the necessary preparations. Frankly I have doubts about him ever beating Hearns regardless of what shape he was in but it’s a shame he wasn’t better prepared.
He had been a pro for 16 years and finally was making some money even tho his best years were past him. It's only natural that the distractions had crept in and his focus wavered. Name me a fighter who kept on point that long without slip ups.
At that time in Hearns career he wasn't scoring big knockouts .He'd only scored 2 ko's in his last 6 fights over Marco's Geraldo and Jeff McCracken. In his 3 previous fights he went the distance with Benitez, Murray Southerland and went 12 with Luigi Minchillo . Duran probably didn't view him as that much of a threat . An old axiom I read in an old boxing book says it all," how you train and prepare, is how you will fight"
Duran has an excuse for every loss. How do we know he even trained hard for those wins over Cuevas, Moore and Barkley, among others? Heck, maybe the guy never did a decent gym workout in his life for all we know. But when he loses, it’s always something.
Duran was clever in how he frames this. "Of course, I, the Great Duran, could have won if I wanted to but I didn't. I chose to be among my people and I am of the people because of course they love me. It's science." Blah blah blah.
Hagler said Duran fought to upright vs Hearns and it showed in how he was in oerfect position to get bombed. But I feel even with perfect training Hearns beats him up every time where aw with his other losses you think he could have done better.
Exactly. For sure he rededicated and picked his game back up when the Cuevas/Moore/Hagler fights came around but suddenly that dedications completely and utterly thrown out the door when he happens to have a loss against an ATG stylistically suited to destroying him? He also trained hard for Benitez but was, again, stylistically dominated. Benitez would have done the same to the guy that beat Ceuvas and Moore. Diehard fans will lap it up tho. There's absolutely no shame to him losing to the likes of Hearns and Benitez even if he was annihilated in one of them and schooled in the other. Young fast ATG's 3 divisions up from Duran's greatest.
Yeah for Benitez to keep him from partying they took him to an island occupied by prisoners, kind of a Panamanian Alcatraz. And of course that’s why he lost, LOL. They should have found him a nice gym on a corner with a whorehouse, an ice cream shop and a bar within walking distance so he could have used that as an excuse.
That is not what he said, he said and I quote, " I was a shameless bast#rd " he said nothing about he could have won he merely pointed out he was undisciplined and paid the price. What he said was true.
As it played out, the fatal (for Roberto) dynamic between Duran and Hearns appeared very similar to and just as resolute as that of Foreman and Frazier. Meaning, at least for me, it would more or less play out the same most of the time. Duran certainly copped it in round one but I thought that he had actually recovered somewhat between rounds. Come round two there was a moment when Roberto paused for a second, eyes narrowed, as if trying to work out how to deal with Tommy - and Roberto did in fact land a very good right hand a moment or two later - but a steely focused Tommy took it well and then had Duran rocking and reeling all over again, shortly thereafter. In short, I don’t think the planets necessarily aligned for Hearns just for that one fight vs Roberto, I just got the impression that the essential Hearns - height, reach, speed, skill and power would be poison for Duran every time out.
Tbh, probably not - though the Cuevas fight was on par. A performance similar perhaps to Ali and Foreman in so far as their having the perfect dance partner to showcase their essential skills in the best light - the opponents in question being Cleveland Williams and Joe Frazier respectively. Performances that don’t literally translate to their being unbeatable against all comers but certainly unbeatable in respect of the given opponent in front of them.
