Your scorecard on Duran-Leonard I?

I'm with this. I never considered this as a particularly close fight; I had Duran taking it by five or six rounds. I thought Duran was literally dominating him until the later stages. Most of Leonard's efforts were utterly superficial: meaningless flurries on the inside because that was all he could get off, and Duran was subtly blocking and rolling with most of those shots and coming back with much more effective and conistent work. Verging on a schooling.

 

I had Duran winning it wide, I forget the score but wide, and Im accused of being biased to Leonard

 

I also had Duran comfortably winning and he just took his foot off the gas last few rounds

2nd fight Leonard got Duran into the ring as quick as he could have he knew how Duran loved to pile on the weight after a fight. Duran wasn't as prepared as he should have been and Leonard boxed a very clever fight hitting and moving all night long really winding Duran up. Hence No Mas

 

I had Leonard winning by 2 points.

 

This fight was very close to me, Leonard has so many haters that the margin widens by the day .. Duran won it but i only had it by a round or 2, Duran was sensational in this fight but Leonard proved his greatness too, in a very different style fight than he was used too. Its really time some people tipped their hat to Leonard, he was a brilliant fighter .... Duran v Leonard 1 was far closer than Leonard v Hagler, that fight is supposed to one of the most controversial fights ever, not for me, Leonard beats Hagler clearly, Hagler is bitter and his fans are bitter, its as simple as that ..

 

Great post.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever deny that Leonard gets **** on in the Classic Forum. It's an undeniable fact. I think it was WhatARock trying to suggest that both Duran and Leonard get the same amount of criticism the other day. He must be talking about a different forum, simply not true.

 

Excuse after excuse after excuse .... Leonard could have done that to Duran in the first fight if he hadnt let Duran draw him in to a brawl, with all the pre-fight trash talk .... Duran was a brilliant all-star of boxing history, but all the lame excuses of why he said 'No Mas' shouldnt take anything away from Leonard .... Leonard treated a stellar champion like Duran as a bum and its time he was given the respect he deserved .. Im a huge fan, in equal measure of the fab 4, in fact Hearns is my favourite of the lot but it gets me when people always want to diminish Sugar Ray Leonard, hes easily the greatest fighter of the last 35 years, its not even a debating issue ....

 

Its an interesting point, Duran and Hagler are the type of fighters that fans love because people can relate to them easier, they're fighters that have struggled for everything and deserved every success they had, they did it a harder way because they werent blessed with the natural talent of guys like Leonard, Jones Jr and Mayweather, and fans appreciate the idea of 'hard work' far more .... Fighters like Leonard, Jones and Mayweather are always picked apart on forums like this because fans seem to believe they have an easier time because of their natural talent and the way they make it look too easy in the ring. The fact that they make it look easy gets on certain boxing fans nerves and they cant relate to it so they just want to denigrate them .... I worked this kind of psychology out years ago .. Guys like Duran, Hagler, and Marciano will always have more fans on forums like ESB than guys like Ali, Leonard and Jones ....

 

Duran by 9-6 at the closest, as stated earlier Leonard's combinations and flurries were consistently being negated by durans head movement and subtle blocks and rolls. duran was landing the cleaner, harder punches throughout, and generally just controlling the action. Based on effective aggression, ring generalship, and clean punching, duran won this clearly.

 

Really?

 

Although I had Duran edging it I honestly dont find that impossible.

 

Don't worry lads, I was kidding about my scorecard. I've watched it twice, scoring it once. First time I didn't score it but came away thinking Duran won it despite Leonard's late rally, and when I did score it I think I remember having Duran up by 2 points. Just wanted to see the Duran enthusiasts go ape****.

 

You what? Apart from in the Olympics, that's how Leonard had always fought.

 

Which is why it was even more special that Leonard changed his tactics to completely overcome Duran in the rematch. Great fighter was Ray.

 

No doubt, and that Leonard vs. Montreal Duran would have been a much more competitive fight. But this whole "Leonard fought the wrong fight" story is a myth.