Duran-Leonard I: Devil's Advocate

I think its a combination of two things, Leonard was a bit too macho, Duran had got under his skin with his insults ,and Ray thought he could match him in a punch out.
It wasn't just the movement , it was neglecting his boxing and getting into those furious exchanges.
The other thing and to my mind often overlooked reason was that Duran was not in the same kind of shape for the rematch.Duran had enough time to get out of shape ,but not enough to get back to the superb condition of their initial fight.

 

:good this statement from leonard himself clearly shows that he possibly had doubts about fighting a fully prepared duran.
in the only fight where both men were in top physical condition, the bigger stronger younger man was beaten.

 

Leonard started out with the wrong tactics and then wasn't in a position to change because Duran forced him to brawl. Leonard could have tried moving early on, but it would have only delayed the inevitable: there was no staying away from Duran on that night.

Some people seem to think that staying away from Duran was as easy as deciding to eat grapefruit with breakfast.

 

This is not complicated. Duran proved he was the better welterweight. In the first fight, both were healthy and ready. In the second fight, one was neither. It's significant than Leonard admits that part of his strategy was to rush Duran into the rematch because he knew Duran wouldn't be ready. What this says is obvious: "I can't beat Duran when he is on top of his game, so I need to find a way to fight an unprepared out-of-shape Duran." He knew he wasn't Duran's equal.

It irks me, too, when people interpret the first fight in a way that allows them to downplay the significance of Duran's victory and falsely elevate Leonard's status. So kudos on this thread. The other side to this is the way the media and Leonard fans were so eager to dismiss the real legendary fighter in order to play up Leonard's victory in the rematch. The things said about Duran in the aftermath of that fight were awful.

But he proved them wrong by marching back out onto the battlefield and delivering some of boxings most thrilling moments.

 

For once we are in agreement, my Brittish friend.

 

I didnt use the word brawl ,that to me denotes crude unskilled mayhem ,there was mayhem in this fight but it was tempered with skill and tactics.Duran was masterful , he was on Leonards chest all night.Leonard thought he could beat Duran whichever way he fought, thats my take on it.
Duran peaked and never approached that single minded ferocity and desire again, he diissipated himself and was back in the ring before he knew it,I take nothing away from Leonard ,that was smart tactics, but if he had fought the Duran of the first fight he might have lost again!

 

The highlighted makes alot of sense......
.....Duran was'nt the same fighter as a welterweight that he was as a lightweight, but for that one fight vs Leonard?????

Heading into that fight, Duran by many was being viewed as a steppingstone toward greatness for Leonard.
Duran was supposed to have showed up and gotten beaten by the media darling and a mega star was supposed to have been born........

That alone was the motivating factor for Duran to physically peak himself like never before.
Roberto Duran was nobodies steppingstone, and Duran physically and mentally prepared himself to prove that vs Leonard......

I dont believe I've ever seen a fighter as psyched to prove and say, "I'm better than you!" than Duran was that night vs Leonard.

Physically, mentally, and emotionally, Duran left it all in the ring that night......and even at the final bell, Duran pushing Leonard as if to say, "how dare you think you could beat the great Roberto Duran!"

......Whew, that was a possesed Roberto Duran!:yep


From my view, I just dont see where the Leonard of New Orleans, circling and running the way he was doing, could have found enough to beat the Duran of Montreal who was peaked in the three areas I mentioned....Physically, mentally, and emotionally!

.....there was no way that Duran was going to say "no mas', and there was no way that judges were going to award Leonard a decision for running around the ring and stalling the action.

If any welterweight was going to beat the Duran of Montreal, he was'nt going to do so by mentally breaking him!
No fighter in history would have broke Duran down mentally that night in Montreal!

 

Mike Tyson.

"I'm madly in love with Roberto Duran. When I first saw him fight I was in detention in the Bronx 1979, I must have been 12 or 13. I remember it as if it was yesterday. Then I watched him fight Leonard in 1980, I was still locked up in an institution in the State of New York. I wasn't sure I wanted to be a fighter, but when I saw Duran fight Leonard, I knew I wanted to be a fighter that night. It was his ferocity, his viciousness. He didn't care, and he was like invincible. I just wanted to be like that."