Wowza. Roberto Duran steamrolled Frank Erne in the first round, hardly noticed him while he breezed past; Carlos Ortiz was equally impressive in outclassing Joe Brown. So the two best first round performances result in this match. At the beginning of his journey Roberto Duran, seeded 3, coasted like any other prospect, out of the featherweight division and into the lightweight, feasting on journeymen and busted former contenders, smuggled into a title shot on the back of brilliant performances against over-matched foes. Against champion Ken Buchanan he sustained his wonderful level of performance with a borderline great, a fighter he would express admiration for throughout his life; the title changed hands controversially, on an apparent low blow registered as a knockout. Despite the niceties, and to Buchanan’s great frustration, few doubted that the title was in the hands of the best. The Animal Duran was born. His title reign, however, is possibly a tiny bit overrated in the great scheme of things. There have been better, perhaps, at the poundage. Duran liked unranked opposition and there were championship opponents that did not belong in the same ring as him, but he also did away with the top men in that time, allowing no fighter to gain a foothold in the division. Esteban De Jesus defeated him in a non-title fight, as discussed in Part 3, but Duran put him down in the 1974 re-match. Ray Lampkin emerged as the next best lightweight upon De Jesus’ first undoing and Duran horrified with the torrent of abuse he heaped upon the pretender. Lampkin did well in the early going of that fight, boxing an organized retreat against a snorting champion whose pressure slowly withered him. In the final seconds of the penultimate fourteenth round Duran found him with the kind of punch that threatens an exhausted fighter’s life; reports on the after-effects vary but what is agreed upon is that Duran sent Lampkin to the hospital. Post-fight he promised that “next time I’ll send him to the morgue.” Could it be that fear played a part in the capitulations of the contenders that followed Lampkin into the bear pit? It seems plausible upon watching the likes of Lou Bizzarro run and hold throughout the fourteen rounds he lasted with Duran in in 1976, but there is no doubting De Jesus gave his all in Duran’s thirteenth and final lightweight world title fight. The punch Duran landed to unman him was among the best he ever threw. De Jesus spent that fight boxing in his usual pragmatic fashion, engineering openings, countering, taking any opportunity that presented itself and he was running Duran reasonably close. The lazy jab Duran threw to bait him was neither feint nor punch but something in between. De Jesus moved in right-handed; Duran detonated an improvised right cross on his chin and De Jesus was crawling around the canvas in search of a rope. 13-0 in title fights then with a single loss to De Jesus in a non-title fight twice avenged with the prize on the line. “I was born for this,” Duran offered after his final fight at 135lbs. Hard to disagree. This content is protected Carlos Ortiz is one of the greatest 135lb champions in history, 11-2 in lineal title fights, king in eight different calender years, ranked among the best lightweights in the world for an incredible eleven years. A champion at 140lbs, too, his career is a glittering monument to fistic excellence. Ortiz arrived in earnest in 1958, dropping a questionable decision to the ranked Johnny Busso, a decision he justly reversed in an immediate rematch. Puerto Rican by birth, both of those combats were staged at Madison Square Garden, where he would become something of a favorite. He was identified as a title threat later that same year in dominating Dave Charnley in London. Charnley was fancied the puncher but Ortiz attacked him directly and aggressively, illustrating a justified confidence in an iron chin and a stern punch. Neither rescued him at the year’s end when he stumbled to a majority decision loss against Kenny Lane. Lane was after the light-welterweight crown, so light-welterweight was where Ortiz headed, avenging himself against his rival in picking up that title. This kept him clear of the lightweight title picture until 1962 when he met with the reigning champion Joe Brown. Ortiz boxed brilliantly that night in the Garden, producing as consummate a title winning performance as can be seen on film. He explored Brown’s limits over the first twelve minutes, losing, for me, those four rounds but establishing a pace that the champion could not comfortably maintain before using the fact to expose chinks in his armour. Brown was a wonderful, cagey, clever fighter but Ortiz basically beat him one-handed, tattooing him with jabs while holding in reserve the virtual threat of his right which forbade Brown his preferred approach, that of trying to bring his opponent onto his punches – too risky against Carlos. I thought Ortiz won every remaining round in the contest to end one of the greatest title reigns in history and begin another. Ortiz staged four successful defences in that first run, outstanding among them his fifteen round decision over old foe Kenny Lane, another left-handed clinic, before he ran into an inspired Ismael Laguna on enemy territory in Panama. Laguna won a majority decision but the return was in Puerto Rico where Ortiz reclaimed his title. Ortiz staged another five successful defenses in this, his second spell in command of the world title, including another defense against Laguna, who he dominated in New York to take the rubber. Carlos Teo Cruz unseated him by split decision in August, 1967; Ortiz would never again become the pre-eminent lightweight in the world, but he had by this time marked his name among the immortals. This content is protected Who will win under the following rules? 15 round fight. 1960 referee. 8oz boxing gloves. 10 points must. Cast your vote and explain yourself in a post below! You have 3 days.
I don't think Ortiz could sustain Duran's pace for fifteen rounds, and I don't think his ring generalship would be effective at reducing Duran's offensive output. Ortiz's jab would keep him in the fight but it wouldn't keep Duran at a distance, he'd close the gap and punish Ortiz to the body. Duran by a comfortable decision, while Ortiz has his moments.
Sooner or later, prob later, Ortiz was a class act, Duran would impose his unbending will on Carlos, hunt him down , and if not a KO then a RSF with Ortiz in no state to continue, and I picture the Roberto of the Lampkin fight doing the deed, he never looked more dark and sinister. long shaggy hair, sodden with sweat, and the start of the long goatee ( sort of ) he would wear for years to come, imagine staring across at that frighting image.
Ortiz maybe has the best jab in LW history, but what good is that against Duran? Duran is the kind of fighter you can only beat two ways 1) hope he doesn't take the fight seriously. 2) be an athletic freak. Duran is just too relentless for Ortiz and I'm convinced he stops him.
Mouthwatering. This is one of my all time favorite fantasy matchups. It's astonishing how many great lightweights there have been in this sport. Wow. Carlos was a fantastic fighter but I think Cholo is just a bit too beastly for him. Duran is my favorite fighter ever. Hard fought decision for Joe Frazier's Charles Manson.
Yeah, I don't like out-boxers vs Duran. As a swarmer, he's already a bad match up for the average pure boxer, but when you add in Duran's complex feints, ring cutting and, in his pomp, foot-speed, it spells disaster. I know the Loi fights are considered robberies, but it's evident his aggressive style have Ortiz issues. Duran was better in everyway than Loi. Duran UD15.
Duran decision in a tight fight. Duran comes out hard and builds an early lead which Ortiz never quite catches.
Negative. Loi benefited from home cooking in at least one of the last two fights, if not both, from what I've read and seen. I've seen only bits and pieces of their trilogy in a documentary about Loi. At one point, Ortiz knocked him clean on his ass with a right hand and the ref didn't even acknowledge it. Loi just got back up and clinched Ortiz immediately. You'll see no mention of that on the ringside reports, but everyone knew Ortiz got dropped.
If Ortiz wins the trilogy with Loi ...and that draw with Niccolino Loche ...then he’s probably a top 30 fighter PFP
Robert Duran scored a sensational eighth round knockout of Carlos Ortiz whom he beat to the punch across every minute of every round in what was the performance fo the tournament so far. Ortiz looked to establish his superb jab early only to find himself equalled by Duran's own, but it was Duran, utilising that spooky sense of self in the ring, who began to find his man with right hands in the second round; Ortiz was flashed for a no count in the third by this punch and seriously hurt by a right hand to the chest in the fourth, taking a knee and collecting himself. Possibly saved by the bell he was thrashed around the ring in the fifth before being warned for holding in the sixth as he tried to contain the Animal up close. Duran returned his attention to his body in this round and Ortiz was again forced to take a knee right before the bell. A final charge in the seventh gave way early in the eighth as Ortiz was dropped twice in quick succession by rights to the body, spitting out his mouthpiece while gasping in agony as the referee intoned the "ten" above him after the second.
