Duran from about 1977-to June 1980 has a case, yeah. But I'm not completely convinced that he was any better than say, Pernell Whitaker from 1989 to 1993, let alone SRR in his welterweight pomp.
This. I go back and forth, Ali or Duran, as best I've seen live. But I usually settle on Hands of Stone. That said, I have several others ahead of him, including SRR.
This content is protected The new Hands of Stone This content is protected And yes I do feel disgusted with myself for doing that
Just rewatched his first fight with SRL. Damm he was hard to fight. Awkward mofo, every punch seemed like a haymaker, head-body, cornering SRL, tying him up, hitting on the inside. He’s like a Barrera x Hatton x Maidana x ward but more skilled with p4p iron chin and power. Could see him mauling Pac and Floyd on his night.
Majority of fighters are, but usually I separate that and just enjoy what they did in the ring. I don’t idolise sportsman..
I cant see him mauling Pac or Floyd because they both would fight their fight on that night. Leonard was on a tear up until that fight and Leonard knew what he was up against but his ego clouded his judgement and he decided to fight Duran's fight . He did and he came up short. Leonard allowed Duran to be at his best. The rematches were completely different outcomes because Leonard used the full extent of his capabilities to win. If the two fought 10 times with Leonard losing the first because of his own bravado; Leonard would win the the remaining 9 matches. Duran lost 15 out of his last 40 something fights. At Welter and above , everytime he stepped up he got put down. Kinda like Broner. Duran was a fun little fighter with a padded record of about 30 fights. He is just ok. Fun and exciting fighter to watch but the greatest ever ? No way.
You clearly know nothing about Durán. Allow me to educate you. Durán's résumé is so deep, it includes wins over a top 10 FW H2H, in Ernesto Marcel. Two of the top 20 LWs ever, both of whom are excellent H2H: Ken Buchanan and Esteban DeJesús. Three of the best WWs of the era: Carlos Palomino, Pipino Cuevas and Ray Leonard. Three of the best 140lbers in the limbo between Pryor and Cervantes: Sauol Mamby, Monroe Brooks and Adolfo Viruet. And beat high level MWs in both Castro and Barkley in excellent performances whilst unbelievably far past his prime and 25lbs above his best weight. His win over Moore also put him atop the junior-middleweight division. Then add to that, beating other top contenders like Guts Ishimatsu, Hector Thompson, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Edwin Viruet 2x, Masataka Takayama, Lou Bizzarro, Vilomar Fernandez, Emiliano Villa, Ray Lampkin, Leoncio Ortiz, Jimmy Robertson and Alvaro Rojas. His longevity is unbelievable. He was beating world level fighters at 18, and still beating them at 38. Mental stuff. AND a four weight world champion, who's among the best H2H ever at 130, 135, 140, 147 and is exceptional at 154 and 160. Again, mental stuff. And Cholo is the best fighter ever. You think people didn't try that? Everyone fought Durán's fight. Tommy Hearns was the only person who didn't. Mayweather could try his hardest but look what pressure fighters like Castillo and Maidana. Durán is them two ten-fold. Pacquiao fights toe to toe with people. Imagine him doing that to Roberto. Yeah, then he got hurt in the 2nd round by a huge right hand. Afterwards he tried to box and got dragged right back into the fray. The rematches were different outcomes because Durán was undertrained and in the worst state of mind in his career for the No Mas fight, and he was shot to **** for the third fight. No. If the peak Durán never lost his head, he'd be in close fights with Leonard every single time. You're also neglecting the fact that Durán wasn't a WW... he was a lightweight. The fact he beat a top 2 WW of all time is testimony to his great he is. Ok? Ask Leonard, Palomino, Cuevas, Moore, Barkley or Castro about that... Why does having a padded record mean anything? No-one critiques Canelo for his countless fights before getting on US TV. Why should you do so with Durán? How about you read the article... He is just ok? FOH.
Pretty sure Duran is the Devil This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
Ya he was an alright fighter. Maybe on par with someone like Jason Litzau, but with a glass jaw as opposed to Jason's cast-iron one. Did ok for himself with what he had. Can't hate.
In his prime, Roberto Duran was a force of nature, as close to a perfect fighting machine as one could hope to see. He was forged on the tough streets of El Chorrillo, a suburb of Panama City. He turned professional as a 16-year-old at bantamweight in 1968, winning a four-round decision over future world title challenger Carlos Mendoza. Duran filled out into a lightweight and made his American debut in September 1971 on the undercard of his countryman Ismael Laguna losing the WBA 135-pound strap to Ken Buchanan. The fight put Buchanan and the WBA title in Duran’s crosshairs. Just nine months later, Duran relieved Buchanan of the title and embarked on a legendary run. He’s widely regarded as the greatest lightweight in history; his reign of terror consisted of a then-record 12 successful defenses over a seven-year period. “Hands of Stone” wasn’t content with that. He skipped the 140-pound division altogether in favor of chasing one of boxing’s biggest stars, Sugar Ray Leonard, whom he beat in a 15-round unanimous decision to claim the WBC welterweight belt. The iconic figure went on to win junior middleweight and middleweight titles during a career that spanned five decades. Panama’s finest finally retired in 2002 after a car accident, doing so with a record of 103 victories (70 by knockout) and 16 losses. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006. Duran, now 67, lives in Panama. He is the subject of the biopic film Hands of Stone and a new documentary called I am Duran. Duran looked back on six career-defining victories for readers of The Ring: This content is protected KEN BUCHANAN June 26, 1972, Madison Square Garden, New York • Titles: WBA lightweight “I know that I was extremely happy that I became champion of the world, and I had the opportunity to fight in New York. That was a dream for me. The low blow was just an excuse for him (Editor’s note: Buchanan complained of debilitating pain from being hit low after the conclusion of Round 13 and declined to continue). That’s what Buchanan said for them not to take his title away. He knew he was losing the fight, that I had the control from the first round. I had put pressure on him in every round.” Result: Duran TKO 13 This content is protected ESTEBAN DE JESUS II March 16, 1974, Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama • Titles: WBA lightweight “I was thinking walking into the ring that this time it was going to be different, because in my mind, I felt that even though he knocked me down, I won the first fight (Duran lost a unanimous decision to De Jesus in a 1972 non-title bout). So this time my mind was set to knock him out and to take him out of the ring, if necessary. When he dropped me (in the first round), I looked to my corner, to my trainer Ernesto ‘Plomo’ Quinonez and shook my head to tell him ’don’t worry, I’m fine, nothing happened, I’m not dizzy.’ After that knockdown, I became angry and stronger, and all I wanted was to defeat him. I wasn’t going to leave anything in the hands of the judges.” Result: Duran KO 11 This content is protected RAY LAMPKIN March 2, 1975, Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama • Titles: WBA lightweight “I felt proud of being a Panamanian and loved by my countrymen. I was always grateful to be able to fight in my country and give them joy through my fights. It has been my greatest honor to represent Panama. I said next time I will send (Lampkin) to the morgue, because I had to lose a lot of weight and I felt very weak. Remember, back in that time the weigh-in was the same day as the fight. So I wasn’t feeling as powerful. I could have ended the fight earlier, but I was not in my best shape. Still, it was a great fight, great KO, and Lampkin was a great rival. I just want to clarify that it was a figure of speech – not that I actually wanted to kill him.” (laughs) Result: Duran KO 14 This content is protected SUGAR RAY LEONARD June 20, 1980, Olympic Stadium, Montreal • Titles: WBC welterweight “I knew I had to get inside his head. I used tactics like insulting him, calling him names – I was disrespectful in every sense of the word, but this was a war and this was my strategy. You know, I was just so upset, because it was almost as if people were forgetting my capabilities, forgetting that I was also a champion with an impressive resume, and here comes this pretty boy, golden boy, and the media went crazy for him. He was indeed the media golden child: well spoken, educated – something that I never had the privilege to have, because I was so poor that at the age of 5 I was on the streets selling newspapers, cleaning shoes to help my family, and I didn’t have the privilege to go to school and get an education. So I guess this made me mad, and it became personal. I needed to show the world who ‘Hands of Stone’ was, so I trained like never before in my life. My mission in that moment was to rip from him the welterweight title. I made him fight my fight because he was a boxer. I frustrated him. I confused him completely. Like I said before, my strategy was to get inside his head and take away his concentration, and it paid off. He took it so personally that it made him want to go toe-to-toe with me, and that was his biggest mistake: to fight my fight. It was one of the most important victories of my life, if not the most important. Coming from lightweight to fight a true welterweight champion and take his belt against all odds has been the most gratifying achievement in my career. Even in my country, people thought I couldn’t do it, and that gave me more desire to prove them wrong.” Result: Duran UD 15
