Did Duran just have Leonards # that night, Or did Sugar just fight the wrong fight?

This man, John Garfield, speaks many truths...

 

Yeah, this sounds very plausible. As I've said earlier, it makes perfect sense that Leonard and his camp thought he could win a shoot-out: Bigger, stronger guy with a bigger punch, better chin, and faster hands.

 

Enough said. Right on the money!!

 

A bit of both.Duran got into Leonard's head, scared the s**t out of him, and made him his b***H.

 

Yep, Duran made SRL fight his fight. It was never going to be a boxing match, and Leonard fell for it.

 

Like Angelo Dundee said about the 1st fight "Ray got all macho in there and thought he could beat the little mother at his own game"..... And almost did by the way. It was a close fight and a fight for the ages.

 

Leonard had a gameplan that made sense given the information that was available at the time. Leonard was bigger, better, had great mental strength and a chin of iron. Duran was a long-reigning light-weight champ moving up two divisions.


Now, reviewing their careers, we know how special Duran could be miles above his weightclass when opponents elected to move forward.


In hindsight, maybe Leonard should've got on his bike and tried to win by two rounds, but really, as the favorite and the bigger man, how likely was that?


The surprising element was Duran. Name another natural lightweight that takes a decision from Leonard on that night in Montreal. I don't care if you're Benny Leonard or Ike Williams or whoever, I would not favor them.

 

I think Leonard fought the wrong fight. Don't get me wrong, Duran was in top shape and was highly motivated. But, SRL fought way too much toe to toe on the inside with Duran.

 

Well that's the bottom line and given Leonard's size, power, speed, and reach advantage, he probably had every reason to think that he could beat Duran at his own game, especially since it was largely Leonard's game as well.

 

Duran fought a great fight... but it was more a matter of what Leonard didn't do than what Duran did do in my honest opinion. Leonard was better in the rematch and Duran was worse. Their first fight made Leonard better and sadly Duran never reached that level again... although he still had flashes of greatness in a few fights.

 

Duran out boxed Leonard in the first fight. His perfect feints had Leonard confused and off balance, and when he tasted that power from that big left hook...Leonard wanted to control the range but it was out of his hands after that.

Duran was a parody of himself in the second fight, and Leonard didn't give him a chance.

 

From Springs Toledo's excellent book "The Gods of War":

The fight was certainly competitive, but the rounds Duran won seemed more decisive (particularly early). Another thought worth noting was Duran was so sure he had won he gave away the 15th round. If you take a look at both fighters demeanor after the fight, Leonard looks to me like the beaten fighter even before the decision is rendered.