I noticed Robi used to get hit with a lot of jabs and that Duran looked far more elusive than Ray v Leonard, which one of these offensive monsters had the better defense in their prime years?
What film can I watch to judge prime Robinson? If there were only video available of Duran from about 30 on I would say it was even. Duran was better in the pocket and Sugar could use his footwork to get out of harm's way
Over all I'd say Duran did, Robinson had such great footwork though . When Ray became a middleweight he became a little more vulnerable
Duran had the best defense to offense of all the greats. He stands in a class of his own on this. It is the one thing that made him so incredibly special as a fighter. Other fighters had great offense, or great defense, but never combined them in such a fluid style, the only other ATG that could do this to great effect was perhaps Willie Pep.
This content is protected Not sure if this has been shown before, but some of his abilities are showcased here. He was a master at feints and parries as well. Excellent counter puncher and inside master. He was the best of the fab 4.
This content is protected Of course this one show the transitions from defense to offense. No other boxer did this as part of their game-plan. Uniqueness is an underrated talent, any boxer that did something that others (did not/could not), is considered an all time great. Marciano J Johnson Willie Pep Leonard These are some of the boxers who had a uniqueness . That = ATG
I think Duran, for a fighter always stood in front of you his defence was phenomenal. Having said that Robinson could probably have been anything he chose to be. He had so much in his offensive arsenal, the speed, power and punch variation that it was inevitable that he'd be inclined to take more chances, neglect defence a bit and get involved in a scrap which he was inclined to do.
There are many different versions of defense, from Pep's to Duran's to Burley's etc … Duran was a pressure fighter who would slip slip, and get in masterfully, then place his head right in your grill or shoulder which is defense setting up his offense is how I see it, Robi had that footwork from the outside to outbox you .. He was the ultimate rhythm fighter, the best ever
Duran's style of fighting. Usually results in shortened careers. He integrated his offense with his defense better than anyone. Wish I had a dime Everytime an announcer called some big right hand by so and so...look at the replay Duran rolled with it and took all the steam out of the punch.
Yes the Dykes fight around the time he was transitioning to up to Middleweigbt. Not quite his prime years but even in the Dykes video you see some stuff that wast there in later in fights. Sugar Ray looked fast but . he was dancing and clowning at Dykes letting Bobby's punches fly by harmlessly. There was an element of fun that Robinson lost in those brutal later fights. Also Robinson proved the legend true on that video. "Ray could knock out a man going backwards" he did put Dykes down with that lefthook while gliding backwards.
Yes I think he did ,he had a marvellous trick of turning his head and rolling with the impact of a punch when he saw it coming and knew he could not avoid it ,thereby taking a lot of the steam off of it.Robinson said he could slip more punches but it bored him to fight in that way.
