This isn't going to go down to well, but I just scored the fight round by round and I had Duran winning the fight quite clearly. I felt he landed the much cleaner shots throughout the whole fight, making Barkley miss and then countering with sharp right hands. His head movement was exceptional. I was really moved by what I was seeing to tell you the truth. A guy in his late 30's fighting up at Middleweight, fighting a guy who looks like a full blown Light Heavyweight, and he was dominating him in patches - in my eyes. round 1: 10-9 Duran round 2: 10-9 Barkley Round 3: 10-9 Duran Round 4: 10-9 Barkley Round 5: 10-9 Duran Round 6: 10-9 Barkley Round 7: 10-9 Barkley Round 8: 10-9 Barkley Round 9: 10-9 Duran Round 0: 10-9 Duran Round 11: 10-8 Duran Round 12: 10-9 Duran However you saw some rounds, you don't have to be a historian to know that Duran was doing something incredible that night. I've never been a fan of his, always called him out on making excuses, but his performance left me speechless. When he dodged like 3-4 punches of Barkley and then just stared at him, I was like, This guy is on a different planet. Here's Duran making Barkley miss and making him pay. This is a 37 year old doing this ladies and gentleman. :good This content is protected Ducks the left, three punch combination - the body shot and the left hook landing cleanly. Barkley's swing missing. This content is protected Hitting air.... This content is protected Not just making him miss, but making him pay. This content is protected One of the best fights I've ever seen - one of the best performances I've ever seen.
yeah duran was great.. one of the best fighters there ever was. i consider this as one of his top 10 performances
The fights against Benitez and Hagler wasn't nearly as close as the judges had them, either. To beat Duran on points in the 80's , you'd have to beat him very clearly, it seems. Personally I think Duran edged this, but it was by no way a wide win.
I thought Duran could've gotten a draw against Robbie Sims in Vegas back in '86...... But that low-blow deduction in round 8 really hurt Duran....... Sims also connected on Duran's head and Duran dropped for a quick flash as Duran went for Sims' balls...... Either way you look at it, Duran lost a point there.... I believe the deduction proved critical... I know Duran trained hard for Sims going into the fight, but I didn't like Duran at 159 pounds on that night.... I thought Duran was a pinch too heavy..... Duran claimed he couldn't make 154 anymore, but I sensed that was bull****....... After the loss to Sims in June of '86, Duran took off for another 16 months before coming back in late 1987 at 163 pounds to fight the tuff Juan Giminez.... Now Duran was fighting as a Super-Middle for reasons that boggled my mind........ So on and so on..... MR.BILL
Excellent choice of clips. There's another spectacular one in round 4, I think, where Duran throws a left hook, misses, takes a breath and twists back around with the momentum of the missed shot and lands a right. It's serious stuff. I see ESB classic made a convert out of you. Perhaps you'll next consider that Duran is the greatest living fighter alive, I think he took that place at the moment that Willie Pep passed away in a nursing home in Connecticut a few years ago... In any event, it's good see a young man with a mind that is not only open, but willing to revamp and reconsider. That's the mark of a true intellect.
I am rewatching the fight to rediscover that moment I spoke of -- where Duran finds himself where he seldom was, with his back to the ropes, and Barkley is coming in with bodyshots that can't miss. Recognizing pain is on its way, Duran's response is not cerebral -- he furiously lashes out with mutliple punches, drawing a line in the sand, slugging with the bigger man, because the only way out is through him. He did the same thing in the fight with Palomino once, when Carlos clinched and walked him to the ropes.
Check round 4 or 5 on that one... I remember it well, Duran was forced into the ropes and bounced off them and came back swinging -but with short shots.
Thats the way I seen it too even tho I never did round by round scoring. That was the biggest thing to happen in an otherwise even fight.
Duran did exactly the same thing in Montreal when Leonard desperatly tried to seize back the initiative by planting himself & unloading those blistering 5/6 combo's off the ropes but Duran just leaned into him, buried his head in Leonards chest & replied like for like & always finished with the last word, it's all about the "will" is'nt it:deal
This content is protected If that's the one your talking about, the left hook actually appears to land and that was a great right hand. :good ESB certainly gave me a good kick up the arse to go see this guy in action more. Perhaps the only reason I never appreciated him was because I hadn't seen his peak performances. He obviously wasn't at his peak against Barkley, but it was a hell of a performance a guy at 37 years of age making his bigger opponent miss and countering all night long, which is exactly what happened. Thanks for saying so. All the credit goes to Duran, when he performs like that it's virtually impossible not to stand up and just say hey, this guy was incredible. I couldn't see Barrera, my favorite fighter of all time, performing like that a 37 years of age up at Welterweight, put it that way.