I just watched this absolute classic fight. Both fighters showed tremendous heart. I had it 116-113 for Barkley. Two controversial judging decisions for Duran in my opinion of 118-112 and 116-112 for Duran. I had Rounds 2-8 in favour of Barkley on the basis of his jab and very high work rate and activity. I had rounds 9 and 12 10-10 as I couldn’t split them as it was too close. I gave Duran the first round as he scored a good right hand but I had him losing prior to this. After looking at a lot of fan scorecards I can see most favour Duran. I’m very interested to hear what everyone’s take on this fight is and how they scored it or who they had winning it. I never realised how great a fighter Barkley was! Great fight !
I scored this fight the night it happened and I believe I had Barkley ahead by a single point. There were alot of close rounds, but my recollection is giving Barkley rounds based on a steady diet of jabs he was consistent with. Barkley actually fought an uncharacteristicly smart fight for him. Where he usually is very aggressive trying to land with power, he had such respect for Duran's capabilities that I believe his team from the get go in training camp worked on making his height and reach work for him instead of being overly aggresive and playing into Duran's hands where he could counterpunch his aggressiveness. At the time I saw it as one of those fights where I was happy Duran got his hands raised because practically nobody expected him to even be competitive against the much bigger Barkley, but in hindsight looking back, I kind of feel bad for Barkley knowing it was a fight for him that unless he dominated a round, he was'nt going to get it on an official scorecard. The official scores prove that. Tremendous fight though, Duran gave everything he had and was competitive all the way through.
More like if Duran hadn't gotten the knockdown he wouldn't have gotten the decision. It's a classic, it was 1989 fight of the year and one of my all time favs. I had it 116-112/113 for Duran.
Gil Clancy said in commentary when a fighter becomes champion it can bring an extra 20-25% per cent improvement from them. Was Duran a massive underdog for this fight back then?
It looked like Duran was going to lose on my card but he pulled it out late and was a truly deserved winner for mine.
Excellent fight. One of my favourites we had it on DVD from the library years ago before I could watch fights on YOUTUBE this "The War" and Hagler vs Duran was all I really could watch I never got sick of it.
I remember scoring a close decision for Duran. Anyway, i remember this video when i saw the thread and wanted to share it: This content is protected
After Duran got KO'd by Hearns in 84', Duran spent the next several years fighing journeymen types, even losing to Marvin's Hagler's step brother Robbie Sims during that time frame before facing Barkley in 89'. Barkley on the other hand had just shocked the world in stopping Tommy Hearns in 3 rounds. So yes, Duran was a significant underdog heading into that Barkley fight. I dont believe anyone at that time considered Duran as a threat to win a World Title, much less at Middleweight.
I had it a draw, the knockdown giving Duran a draw. If you score heavy on aggression then the Nunn-Barkley fight was equally close too, and Nunn was considered pound-for-pound the best at the time.
Correct after the Hearns loss he "retired" again taking all of 1985 off, then returning in 1986 with a couple of quick kos then lost a disputed IMO "loss" to Robbie Sims, this really was a set back at the time. Plus Duran's performance against Jeff Lanas just prior to Barkley was not the best winning a close decision. Of course Duran trained hard and came in ready for Barkley.
Since I only watched it in recent years, I remember googling in the middle of it like "wait I thought Duran was supposed to win this" I was a very close fight.
I've scored it at least twice and had it 115-113 Duran both times. Yep, the KD in round 11 was crucial and swung things in Duran's favour or at least made it super close at the end if you had Barkley leading at that point. It could have gone either way on the cards and a split decision was inevitable. But I feel Duran did deserve it - it wasn't an injustice. Barkley fought a great fight, though.
