No not really. A prime and hungry Duran was the one who fought Leonard the first time, I think that was his last perfect performance. Dont get me wrong he has had great fights after that, but he wasnt in his prime in my opinion. P4P Duran beats the crap outta Leonard anyday of the week, Durans best weight was at lightweight, thats why I say P4P, cause he beat Leonard at a weight he has never fought at before.
they were old, duran was WAY past his best weight and prime. it was a **** fight by two old men, both looking to avenge loses and put them behind them. duran couldn't, leonard could
actually he spent quite a bit of time at welter before the leonard fight. he was waiting for leonard to get established before they actually fought
Yeah he fought tomato cans to get ready for Leonard, he wasnt really established as a true welter and wasnt really considered a welterweight. Had Leonard been a lightweight he would have gotten whooped every time they met.
No that fight was like the RJJ/B-Hop rematch...........we know who wins when both are prime. Duran..............
oh not disputing that. but duran had time to get accustomed to the new weight. when he fought leonard the second time, he didn't
Yeah exactly. So I never see Leonards wins as significant, I just see him as getting to Duran at the right time. P4P Duran over Leonard, no question about it.
It is hard to overlook this point that 3 months prior Duran was in the FOTY against a very good belt holder. was Duran at his peak? Of course not but he was still at a world level on any given night. So yes, it is still a significant win.
Umm, it was "significant". It was a rubber match. It does count for SOMETHING, though you could argue the extent.
was toneys win over barkley significant? many toney fans think it was for some reason, even though benn had destroyed barkley in 1 round and barkley had lost to duran previously? the leonard win wasn't significant, it didn't do anything for eithers legacy in a similar way to jones v hopkins 2.