Boxing masterclass? - Sugar Ray Leonard

The 3rd fight means nothing to me, really. It was took place at The Mirage, the biggest mirage being that this was held up as a world title fight.

But I fancy if they'd have fought 5 times in 1980 that Leonard would have won more often than not.

 

I agree. SRL was the better and greater WW. Duran the better and greater fighter relative to their respective sizes, I.e. p4p.

 

I'm super impressed with the man who literally made his opponent quit. How often does that happen? He broke him.

 

I assume you rate Loma highly?

 

Oscar broke Macho but he never quit.

 

? I was asking if you rate Lomachenko highly, if making fighters quit impresses you. I recall 4 x opponents quit against him.

 

It's a feat whomever achieves it.

 

If you feel like the excuses for Duran losing in rematch are invalid, why are you making excuses for SRL losing to Duran in the first fight? SRL did better in the last 10 rounds where he pushed Duran back and brawled as opposed to the first 5 rounds where he tried to "box".

 

Not the way Oscar beat him. Macho lost every round and he kept coming back for more. 12-0, 12-0, 10-2

 

Ray did fight Duran’s fight in Montreal - his standing flat footed and reduced lateral movement from opening bell (in contrast to his established style in previous fights). was particularly and correctly noted by the commentators in real time.

I think at some point Ray did perhaps want to revert to his more mobile and evasive style but Duran’s earlier, opportunistic work, particularly to the body, took away the potential mobility Ray had at opening bell.

Duran’s work had already taken its toll, and Duran was then able to literally pressure Ray onto the ropes and into the corners - Ray no longer having the legs he might’ve had if he began band remained mobile from the outset.

In the rematch, Ray simply fought to his own strengths from the outset. The scores might’ve been relatively close when Duran quit, but that ignores Ray’s momentum and the direction the fight appeared to be heading.

Although acutely mobile and evasive, Ray was still working the offences, hitting Duran clean and hard and really beginning to snipe Roberto when Duran waved himself out.

 

Ray fought Durans fight? For me that's the narrative Leonard and Dundee put out. In all honesty I believe Duran didn't let Ray fight any other way because of the amount of pressure he put on him. Duran didn't even attempt that kind of pressure in the rematch because he wasn't capable of it IMO

 

I'm impressed by SRLs performance by Benitez instead of this honestly. A letdown considering how climatic the first fight was but SRL controlled the second fight. I love Duran but he didn't press the fight, cut the ring off and eventually quit so not SRLs fault.

 

I can't look at this fight separately from the first fight.
The first fight was in the style of "who wants to beat whom", and the second "who wants to outsmart whom".
Duran's gameplan to draw Leonard into a "who's going to beat whom" fight; mentioning his wife is genius.
After the defeat, Leonard realized that. He was defeated in the ring, and outside the ring... he was humiliated.
He needed revenge...
That's how he dragged Duran into the "who wants to outsmart whom" fight with his gameplan.
Duran was defeated in the ring, and in the field of psychological warfare. And he said: "No mas".
This is definitely a boxing masterclass and revenge.