Duran from Montreal vs Leonard (New Orleans)

Duran.

The first fight was the defining one.

Both men were ready, hungry and prime.

Talk of Leonard not fighting the right fight doesn't hold up. He fought the kind of fight Duran MADE him fight. And Duran was just a tad better.

In the second fight, which Duran wanted later, Duran was weight-drained and taking diuretics and laxtives the week of the fight. He was suffering from stomach cramps and had an ice-pack applied to his stomach after the fifth and sixth rounds.

The second fight was close at the point of stoppage.

An in-shape and prepared Duran, as in Montreal, would have the edge.


All that said, the Montreal fight was close enough that Leonard migh have won under similar circumstances, maybe two or three times out of ten.

 

How is it BS? They took a gamble that Duran wouldn't take the rematch seriously, and the gamble paid off. History actually showed that in between terrible performances and party binges, Duran always got back into the picture by retuning himself against lesser fighters. Ray didn't give him the chance to do that by going for the immediate rematch. It was a calculated move and it worked.

These two at their physical and mental peak always take each other the distance, and always produce a classic with a debatable decision. Duran from Montreal would never dream of quitting, and Ray from New Orleans was just that little bit more seasoned than he was in 1980. Let's not forget that Leonard's Benitez win aside, Duran was by FAR the more experienced fighter in Montreal, he'd been a pro for eight years already and had two thirds of a classic trilogy under his belt when Ray won his gold medal. There's also zero reason to doubt that he got into Ray's head before that fight. Ray admits as much.

Bottom line, I think Ray closes strong again, and aided by a more tactical pace, walks away with a razor thin decision, probably thin enough for Duran to cry robbery.

 

I don't even think it would be razor thin. Leonard would win comfortably, even though it would be a tough fight.

 

If they were only to fight once Duran would win as proven in their first fight. You can't keep using hindsight.

 

What do you make out of the fact that Leonard himself said so?

 

Add to that that Dundee and Leonard thought they fought the right figh shortly after the first. I wonder why people constantly ignore what the participating people said themselves. :huh

 

Everyone who is saying Leonard would win is rewriting history for themselves. The premise is that Leonard simply fought the wrong fight because Duran pissed him off in the build-up and attacked his manhood. I've seen Leonard propogate this garbage many a time. Truth, though, is that how Leonard fought in Montreal was deliberate. Dundee came to the conclusion that the way to beat Duran was to never be too far away because the two steps Duran took to get to you gave him the momentum he used to beat you. Leonard had a far superior knockout rate too. And he was bigger, stronger. Why not stand and fight?

Only two facts here: 1. Duran was never the same; and 2. Leonard would never, ever have beaten him.

 

Leonard in a corker.

 

I totally agree with you it was not his style, it was a style i believe he thought up for 1 intention in mind, beating duran. He realised that he could not beat duran with his usual style of boxer puncher, so he concocted a gameplan based of large amounts of lateral movement, spoiling tactics and clowning about.

Now with duran being clearly a step off the pace in new orleans as opposed to montreal it worked well, the question i suppose is would it work well against montreal duran.

For me i see a closer 1st 12 rounds than montreal was, and i don't see duran crusing the last 3 in this scenario , if he does he would lose. Leonard would have sucsess though, this amount of lateral movement tantamount to near running would **** any version of duran off, but duran in montreal would have the tools to combat it more, he was quicker at cutting the ring off, he'd get inside faster and make leonard work far more.

Best guess for me is a very close 15 round fight, but i see duran beginning to slow leonard down the more fight wears on, having attacked the body a lot in the early going though giving away rounds at times and coming on very strong at the end with duran taking a tight decision

 

Duran had a proven track record of getting out of shape between fights. Why would that be different had he been given more time? Given more time, he would've partied more as always. Duran's resume speaks for itself. But people want to give this guy an excuse for every time he didn't show up.

 

At that point did he?

 

Sugar Ray Leonard by unanimous decision

The evidence is there, the first fight was quite close, the second fight was closer than its made out to be at times but Ray always looked in control & you sensed that if Duran never quit, he was gonna fall further & further behind to a clear decision loss.

I dont care which Duran you put in the ring vs Leonard of New Orleans, he loses, that was Leonard at his sharpest & best, no version of Duran is beating him.

Thats my non-biased opinion as both are among my top 10 favourite boxers ever.

 

Neither was Montreal tho, he normally moved A LOT more than he did in Montreal.... it works both ways.

Fact is, he boxed more in fight 2, he fought more in fight 1 & anytime SRL decides to `box` Duran, there will only ever be one winner & that winner is Sugar Ray Leonard.

 

Duran of the first fight was amazing. He was too quick for Leonard. Ray fought on the inside because Duran was the boss on the outside and he wanted to take the leverage out of the shots.

Round 2 wins the fight for Duran though. He beats Ray up, gets ahead and takes rounds off when he needs to.

Who knows if Duran can land such a shot again?

I'd just say it would be a 52-48 fight in favour of Duran.

Most people have a favourite though and most will just post for their man and then try to create an argument to back it up.

 

Again Id loooove to see these fights Bill...I have most of, not all but most of Leonards fights pre Duran and have seen most of the rest, including his run at the Olympics. And he was not moving a whole heap in those fights. He fought aggressively in most, or used very efficient lateral movement when fighters came at him in the others. He really was at that stage and for most of his career a boxer-puncher who wasnt afraid to mix it in close because he had absolute confidence in his mix of power, skill and especially speed trumping anything that was thrown at him.

He moved fine in the first bout but as I have said many a time, a lot of people are prepared to dwell on what Leonard didnt do instead of giving credit to Roberto for what he did. Like preventing Ray from reseting and cutting the ring off beautifully.

If Im forgetting something mate please call me out on it...But I do not recall a pre-Duran fight where he was moving "A LOT" more. Just show me the fights and we can break it down.