Hear he is quitting against Ray Leonard. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPoWrWwwi8M[/ame] He quit when faced with adversity. Hear he is being knocked out by Thomas Hearns. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNFi3ZcM_S4[/ame] In the second round. Winning the lightweight championship by fouling Ken Buchanan [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RzLqn9Uqto&feature=related[/ame] After the bell too. I don't care if he knocked out a horse. Horses don't fight back. Benny Leonard, Pernell Whitaker, Ike Wiliams Floyd Mayweather Jr., Joe Gans and Barney Ross Would all easily beat him. Yes I said easily beat Roberto Duran.
Duran is great but overrated. When he fought guys who were technical and used the ring he had problems winning. Problem is at lightweight there were not Pernell Whitakers or Shane Mosley's to exploit it.
Mosley's foot movement is not great, but he is fast. He would win most of the exchange with speed and Duran would not get close, and Shane is strong and hits harder than most think.
Wilfred was a great fighter at 154. Regardless of that, he beat Duran easily. Duran lost to all the greats. Benitez, Hearns,Leonard,Hagler.
Most of you ****ing morons have no idea when his prime was, who he fought during that period, his record during that period and the immense skillset he displayed. Grow up and get some tape of when the man was at his peak. You embarrass yourselves with this ****.
That and there's always the theory that he "lost to Hagler, Hearns, and Leonard" but he is the only guy to beat Leonard on paper. The Hagler-Leonard fight was close and Hearns-Leonard II was a clear Tommy win but Hearns got robbed. Duran is the only out of the other three to beat Leonard on paper(rightfully).
It's reflecting the fact that when Duran was in his prime, US lightweights were nowhere near good enough to compete with him. Essentially, he had to go up in weight, after his prime, to get into the vaunted US limelight. At that point, he was fighting guys younger, less shopworn and bigger than he was. The fact he still notched a few great victories after 1980 is more a testament to his enduring greatness than an indictment.
so what your saying is duran MIGHT lose to the best lightweights in history, and ignore everything he has done at that weight? he fought greats late in his career above his natural weightclass, but he lost to a lot of them onlyafter reigning over the lightweight class for years! begone troll!
I dont agree with the original poster but I do think Duran gets a little too much praise around here.