I rewatched Duran vs Leonard 1 again and it was a lot closer than I remembered

Duran definitely won but I thought Leonard finished strong and made it competitive on the cards.

Emanuel Steward noted that Ray was always a strong finisher, citing his fight and even in the amateurs. He said he knew when Leonard broke through later in the first fight with Hearns that Thomas was doomed because Ray always finished strong and was a good finisher when he had someone hurt. In short, he knew enough about Ray to know he’d never let Hearns off the hook.

 

still 12-3 for Duran, might rewatch tomorrow cuz i haven't had my weekly dose of The Brawl

 

Similar to FOTC - extremely competitive fight between two extremely talented warriors.

The winner is clear but not the blowout that revisionists make it out to be.

What's breath-taking about this fight is how quick Duran's foot speed and reflex is. He's making Ray miss combinations up close in a way that you would only imagine the likes of Pep, Benitez, Pernell or Floyd do.

 

It was close I had Duran only winning by a single point and he gave away the 15th round by clowning which could've comeback to haunt him because the judges had it relatively close aswell.

I don't know why people seem to think Duran won this very widely or Duran beat up Leonard 2 judges had it a 1 point fight and the other judge had it a 2 point fight.

Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard 1

1 Leonard
2 Duran
3 Duran
4 Duran
5 Leonard
6 Leonard
7 Leonard
8 Leonard
9 Duran
10 Leonard
11 Duran
12 Duran
13 Duran
14 Duran
15 Leonard

143-142 Duran

 

Great fight and my favourite of the Fab 4 bouts. Duran was awesome pulling out the victory and so was Leonard in defeat. Parallels with first Ali-Frazier fight in that way.

I had it Duran 9-6.

 

The fight wasn't 12-3 in rounds for Duran, though Duran obviously
won.
My opinion Leonard won the majority of the championship
rds, or from rds 10-15.
It was more 9-6 OR 10-5 in rounds, still convincing, but it wasn't
a white wash.
Also in my opinion, this fight sowed the seeds
for what would happen in the fight in
New Orleans. Duran knew the "Brawl in Montreal"
was his very best effort.
He had to know sub consciously the intensity , physicality
and skill level he achieved in Montreal would be almost
impossible to do again.

 

Not to mention doing that while dealing with Ray's handspeed. As yrs go by i appreciate Durans skills more and more. A 1% er level operator. All done with short arms and short legs!

 

Leonard barely won a round convincingly.
He hit Duran cleanly with about two left hooks, and one lead right hand when they exchanged lead right hands, I can’t remember what round it was.

Duran hit him with flush hooks, uppercuts, rights, body punches, jabs, made him miss and trolled him in the last round.

At their best Duran showed he was, dare I say it a level above even the great Sugar Ray Leonard.

 

THIS. I give Ray 4-5 rounds typically when i score it I simply don't see it any other way. Duran won it and it wasn't a split decision either, that was so ridiculous. Leonard knew he lost it was all over his face, and he didn't "fight Duran's fight" as the revisionists like to say he was simply beaten by a better fighter, he knows it and only those Duran haters and ultra partisans for Leonard deny it.

 

Saw a clip years after the fight where Leonard admitted Duran won, his body language after the fight said it all too

 

This fight showed up the potential fallibility of the 10 point must system. Duran was usually winning his rounds very clearly where Ray's rounds were hard fought and close. I've seen some noted scorers in here pip it for Leonard or have it right on the razor's edge. There's been good threads on it. Easily won rounds (with no KD) count no more than pipped rounds.

 

Exactly. Just like FOTC, it's one in which round by round score doesn't really tell the whole story.

Round by round it was very close, just as the judges scored it, but Duran was clearly the better man on the night. Having the really big rounds.

 

I disagree, didn’t think it was close round by round. There were a few close rounds sure. I think you’d have to be new to boxing to score it close, round by round or just in terms of punches landed. Or a big fan of Leonard and hater of Duran

 

I wouldn't put Floyd in a bracket with the other 3. This version of Duran would've ruined him at 147.