"Duran-Cuevas" of 1983.... Classic or Farce?

Mayweather vs Baldomir was a farce. Duran vs Ceuvas, still gets replayed by networks like espn and VS today. **** now im about to go watch the fight.

 

By the time this long awaited match took place, Cuevas was merely a shell. Prime for prime, Duran would've taken it on points.

 

but what a fight it would have been. worth the top ticket price. in his prime, Cuevas may have been the hardest puncher i ever saw. his chin was great. he started wearing down after the Shields fight and was never the same, but it still took Herans about 400 flush right hands to ko him. What if Cuevas landed 1 punch on Hearns fullforce to the chin or body? Hearns would have fallen. Pipino and Duran would have been brutal and beautiful. The ultimate test of Machismo. I like Duran (pretty much against anyone in his prime), but it would have been great. BTW, Cuevas ko's Palimino in his prime. Look at the ratings in 1978 and see Cuevas fought and detroyed all the top guys while Palominofought washerwoman and nobodies except for Muniz. :hat Cuevas had the greatest left uppercutlike

 

hook I ever saw. the next best at it was Gomez. the latins ruled the sport in the 70's except for heavy. Long live Duran, Cuevas, Galindez, Arguello, Monzon, Pintor, Zamora, Zarate, Lopez, Olivares, Pedroza, Canto, Napoles, "Kid Pambele", Escalera, Jofre, Marcel, Lujan, The great Esteban DeJesus RIP, Benitez and the rest. They came to fight, asked no quarter (as others would in the future; Leonard, M:hatayweather having to have things their own way) and gave no quarter.

 

Bill, did you see my question on the last page?

Duran-Cuevas at 147 in mid 1980 (before Hearns for Pipino, between Leonard I and II for Manos). :think What do you think? Same outcome?

 

Stafford-Cuevas made it clear that Pipino was no longer what he had been before Hearns. It wasn't so much that Stafford won the decision, but the fact that he easily dropped somebody who previously had a reputation for an iron chin. (Cuevas wasn't in any serious distress as a result of this knockdown, and he alertly took the benefit of a full count when he could have gotten up immediately, but it was still significant that he went down in the first place.)

Shake's post #12 provided a very alert observation about Cuevas going downstairs, and Duran avoiding a repeat of that. Unlike Mugabe after Hagler, his punch didn't desert him after Hearns, but Pipino didn't have the skills to complement his power. (In his final championship win, I had Harold Volbrecht shutting him out before a single hook did in the South African. Volbrecht was a short, fast and skilled, but relatively light fisted stylist who moved in and out with lightning combinations of four, five and even six punches, but he couldn't even tickle Cuevas with these. Regardless, he acquitted himself well, and had a long respectable career. After Cuevas, only the undefeated Breland and LaRocca were able to beat him.)

 

I was sold on LaRocca too, after the way he leatherslathered Bobby Joe Young. (He predicted a first round knockout on that deadly slugger and nearly pulled it off.) LaRocca looked more like a greyhound than anything I've ever seen in the ring, but his penultimate victory over a then streaking Laing was his only really good win after the loss to Curry.

 

Agreed.....the matchup was certainly not a farce.
Duran was coming off losing to Benitez and Laing, and Cuevas had just lost to Roger Stafford.

......the matchup was built as a one where the winner could resurrect his career.
Duran was motivated, but certainly he had the type of opponent in Cuevas that would make him look good.

If you straight just come in at Duran, he's just to good at that game and is going to pick you apart.

Pipino was definitely the right opponent for Duran and a fan favorite to attract the Latino fan base.

 

So true. Every time he overachieved (Moore, Cuevas, Barkley, Leonard) during the latter part of his career, it was against such an opponent.

 

You're assuming that Duran would walk through a prime power of Cuevas like he did in 1983. In his prime Cuevas hit equally hard, if not harder than Thomas Hearns. Duran could not shake off those blows against Hearns. Very shortly before the Leonard rematch, Duran was reported to be at 180 Lbs. plus. He lost alot of weight in a hurry.

 

people w/out skills overachieve. Duran kickedtheir asses because he was a better fighter. period. he is viewed as such in the context of history. noone held a title for 7 years and then stepped up a beat a guy like leonard easily but Duran. he beat SRL in hisb 13th year. Where were Leonard and Hearns in their 13th yr. as pros.:hat

 

Everything you mentioned doesn't necessarily invalidate what I meant -- Duran did notably better in all those matches than was expected of him beforehand. Now, in hindsight, we can conclude those expectations may have been faulty.

Duran is my favorite fighter, and undoubtedly higher on the list of all-time greats than both Leonard and Hearns, so you're preaching to the choir, here. I will note that I think Leonard was an incredible specimen as well, and head-to-head he's in there with a shout against anyone.

Edit: I also did not see Duran walking through Cuevas' shots. I think Duran picked his range very well in this fight.