Roberto Duran prime years

Not easy to use peak & pigion-hole Duran that clearly, his reign of terror at Lightweight proberbly defines him, so between 74..De Jesus II & 78..De Jesus III. But what can you say about a former Lightweight that dominates a former 147 champion in Palomino & then outboxed/outfought & out thought the P4P olympic goldenboy in SRL for the 147 crown in Montreal which has to be the apogee of a 29 yr old Duran's peak & prime years. Whatch the Leonard fight with the volume low & you'll clealy see a real master at work as he dismantles Leonards style.

But Duran had 2 careers, it all depends on what you are looking for in Duran....The Panama Animal or The slick smart defensive savvy of the Duran that gave Marvin Hagler fits & just got pipped for the Undisputed Middleweight Crown.

Go watch his Lightweight fights & watch his signiture double tap of left to body/head then the right hand, totaly unavoidable he dismantles all styles from toe2toe to olympic runners like Bizzaro. A master craftman with an understated defence.

Here's a good read which covers his carrer quite well:

http://coxscorner.tripod.com/duran.html

 

I'd say he was pretty much at his peak when he fought Esteban DeJesus the third time. Physically overwhelming, but a smart and experienced fighter also. Conditioned to go 15 rounds at a fast pace.

 

I'd say about 1974-1980.

 

I gotta agree with that ... however, 7 years is quite a long time for a boxer.

Sure Duran was a dominant force the whole period, but IMO he was still a work in process until DeJesus III.... from then on and until Leonard I; I would say that Duran was at his absolute peak, because I have a very hard time trying to choose which fight was better.

What I have clear IMO is when his decline "began": From Leonard II on ... sure he was still a great fighter and he would keep doing amazing comebacks and fights for many years .... but somehow the "no mas" episode kind of killed the charm for me :blood

 

I'd say from the time he won the LW belt in 1972 until No Mas. Peak version, Dejesus III through Montreal.

 

For me, Duran's peak was a short but frightening one, from 1978-1980 when he moved up to welter.

 

I would agree with that, although I think he evolved much more from 1972-1974 than he did from 1974 to DeJesus III.

 

The third De Jesus fight in 1978 was when Duran hit his absolute peak. He had the right balance of savage power that took him to the lightweight title,and the savvy of his later years when,as Duranimal says,he gave a peak Hagler fits.

 

Here's some:yep

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V53g75Dfkd8[/ame]

 

already said brilliantly by other posters....peaked truly with dejesus 3, peak ended with leonard 1

 

Greetings from Dallas
I agree with Your assesment . You know Boxing ". Starting to build my Boxing Dvd collection again . What sites can You recoment to me . Thank You . Looking for Complete Hagler , Pryor , collections , plus many single Fights ( Dvd .) Thank You
steve777

 

I agree with the notion that he hit prime around DeJesus III and peaked at Leonard I. I will add though that Leonard did not make him peak, he did infact peak himself.

 

Why is there such a fear to say that a guy simply had a long peak? I would agree with '74-'80, I see nothing wrong with that. He was just a bit raw in '72, but matured in the next couple of years, and was frightening anywhere in the mid-70's. To say he was better in '77 or '78 as opposed to '74 or '75 is splitting a pretty thin hair.

 

Duran was figuratively and literally hungry when he had the title unification with DeJesus. That fight made him an undisputed champion for the first and only time. He was 26 years old for DeJesus III, 29 years old for Montreal. Taking into consideration the age factor, I have to rate DeJesus III as the higher peak of the two bouts, although Montreal was more historically significant. (DeJesus III was huge though, and a mainstream news event in the United States, not just in the sporting realm.) I believe the Duran of DeJesus III would have won Montreal more decisively, even weighing 134-1/2. (Armstrong defended the WW Title against Ring HOFer Ceferino, IBHOFer Arizmendi, and two other challengers at that weight. Of course Duran would have always weighed more in actuality for SRL, but if a peak Ray was inserted in Esteban's place against the LW Duran, El Cholo still would have kicked his ass.)