What fight showed Durán at his absolute best?

When i mean absolute best i mean it in a way that every part of his boxing prowess, physical or mentally is at is highest peak

Which one is it?

 

To me it has to be between De Jesus 3, Leonard 1 and Moore.

Against De Jesus in fight three he went beast mode against a guy who should be in the IBHOF, with Leonard in fight 1 it was close but Leonard was a fellow ATG and hall of Famer, and with Moore he just went beast mode, although Moore was not near Hall of Fame caliber.

 

DeJesus 3, Palomino and SRL 1.

 

DeJesus 3 is IMO his all-time best.

 

If you're talking about him taking the best skills out of someone while performing with all his skills out,his performance vs Hagler.

Duran's rounds were close but he got it, can't complain bout the decision since Duran didn't really have that much of convincing rounds,but he took the destroyer out of Marvin and made him a calculated man.

Edit:but since this was about his physical, technical and all of his stats being max,then it must be De Jesus III or Palomino,both of them were lopsided masterclasses by Duran,you can also say that to vs Thompson although Duran got nailed a little there.

 

DeJesus 3 and Palomino IMO

 

Leonard 1! One of the greatest victories in boxing, full stop!

For #2, a lot of people saying DeJesus and Palomino...add Barkley to consideration. At his age, he had no business re-inventing himself with a win over a guy who just starched Hearns. It may not have been his best physically, but again, the absolute ring generalship was there.

 

The inside work against Palamino is a university text book for that Greco wrestling style he used to rip people up.

 

Judging on the competition he beat, his victory in Montreal over Leonard was his absolute best.
His win over Palomino was a very good win, but he (Palomino) wasn't an ATG.
His victory over DeJesus in the 3rd fight, was more Duran getting better while DeJesus was getting worse.
Moore and Barkley were great victories but neither man was considered great fighters.
Duran's victory over a prime Ray Leonard was his greatest win, and one of the top 5 greatest wins in boxing history.

 

Pound for pound it's DeJesus 3,, but the win over Leonard was the crown jewel.

 

The physical side was mentioned in the request -

"When i mean absolute best i mean it in a way that every part of his boxing prowess, physical or mentally is at is highest peak"

It cannot be Barkley or Moore.

I'm torn between Leonard and DeJesus III.

He was virtually perfect for both. Tho he was fighting two divisions up against Leonard i thought his physicality was all but as good as it was at 135. I also think his determination and mindset for Leonard eclipsed even DeJesus III. On the flipside he did ease back very late in the Leonard battle. He was confident he'd done enough but he was also pretty fatigued after going so hard for so ,long IMO. This allowed Leonard to take the last two rounds and make it competitive on a lot of cards. It was the perfect example of what can happen in the 10 point must scoring system. Duran won most of his rounds easily, while Leonard nipped most of his by a hair. This allows a guy who dominated most of the rounds he won (Duran) to be taken close by a guy that (mostly) had to struggle to win his. Therefore the fight can be legitimately scored close tho one guy looked a lot more dominant.

So gun to the head i might go DeJesus III, Duran was flawless. I wouldn't argue however if someone stood strong on the Leonard victory. Leonard was a notch above DeJesus, challenge wise. I do think there's a couple of 147's that would beat Montreal Duran however i wouldn't back any 135 in history to overcome that peak 135 pound machine that was Duran.

 

Correct.

I'll post it again sometime in another, more appropriate thread.

 

Good on you mate. As much as i love the wins over Barkley and Moore they just don't fit here. On a scale with all intangibles included they are, however obscene....with Barkley well above the Moore win, as brilliant as that was.

 

The first Leonard fight. SRL was bigger, faster, and probably better, but Duran worked himself into a frenzy and with sheer willpower just forced himself to another level to win that. I don't think people realize what a feat that truly was. To go from a lightweight up to welter and beat a fighter of Leonard's caliber was insane.

Looking back, I'm not as impressed with the DeJesus fights. Duran should have made easy work of him and should have never turned that into a three fight series. EDJ was a good fighter, but too small and would never have stayed in with the likes of Ike Williams or even DeLaHoya who both would have made short work of him.

 

Leonard. DeJesus 2 for lightweight. Palomino obviously. I will say that Duran's win over Minchillo is underrated imo too.

I don't consider DeJesus 3 as highly as some others here as EDJ was already becoming a shell of himself by this point. The second was a win over a much better version imo.