The announcer kept bringing it up but I didn't see it. Can somebody give me a time stamp where it happened. This content is protected
Man, everybody made a huge deal out of it but I couldn't really find a definitive moment where I can say "there!" either. I think there was a moment in the second where Duran pushed away that is the most likely candidate. Personally I think Duran's bodywork is much more significant.
Yeah, it's impossible to say. He threw a lot of twisting up-jab type punches that fell just short enough to do the trick, or it could have been one of the inside uppercuts obstructed from the camera.
The thing is Moore was fighting with Duran landing his punches and getting hit. He was not experienced enough for Duran and Duran was landing his jab.. Moore was overrated. The guys who beat Duran make him miss and counter, but you don't mix it up with him. Ever.
You write this ALL THE TIME! I believe you think, and correctly I must say, Duran is close to unbeatable in a fight fight. A punch out. As a matter of fact, I think Roberto is yr favorite for that type of fight.
Just admit it. Come over from the dark side. We are a funner bunch. And have really great snacks our Moms make.
It's not an unreasonable opinion. If I had to pick guys you'd not want to brawl with at the weight, Duran would be right up there. Moore himself was pretty badass with good speed, power and excellent combinations and Duran pretty much picked him apart. I probably rate Moore higher than most because of what he did to one of our local hard boys Charlie Weir. The Silver Assassin was a meat grinder; he used to send guys out on stretchers all the time. Unfortunately for him Moore could both take it and dish it out and Weir went down hard.
I think PernellSweetPea located it correctly. Roughly 9 seconds left in the first, Duran hits Moore and his thumb might have gotten in his eye. Moore certainly reacts about a second later as if something hit his eye. But it's clearly unintentional. Some people have acted like Duran just intentionally shoved his thumb in Moore's eye at some point, but that's not what happened at all. It's obviously accidental and just was bad luck for Moore.
I think its made a big deal of because it's supposedly said that Duran said that he would thumb Moore if that's what it took to win, before the fight. But it was a goddamn alley brawl of a fight, and Moore was hardly innocent himself. The commentator described the fight as a "clinic" for illegal tactics and I agree. Thumbing, hitting behind the neck, under the belt, after the bell ... you name it. The real damage imho was all by legal blows and Moore landed some pretty stiff shots himself. It's just that Duran had this last second reflex movement that took the heat off them, and that chin ...
I always admitted that. And the great fighters knew not to go into Duran's specialty. Davey Moore made a mistake in round one, and Duran's jab was landing on him. I cannot say for sure it was the thumbing. He was not ready for Duran. When Duran's jab was landing on Moore, that was it then his other punches are landing. You don't get in Duran's punching range. You hit and don't get hit and take him out of rhythm, and the elites could do that. Leonard,Benitez and Hearns. Hagler did not do a great job with the punching range, but he was strong. Yet he was not aggressive enough on Duran to take him out of his rhythm. He sat back and was in Duran's range and that is why it was a tougher fight. Hagler used a lot of his physical strength to beat the smaller guys moving up.
I cannot say it was the thumbing either. It probably helped because Moore's eye was swollen in round 3 to start it so we don't know how that would have gone had Duran not thumbed him. Moore did not fight a smart fight. He was very inexperienced.
Yes he was very inexperienced. But he beat a guy like Charlie Weir in his 10th fight. Weir had a tremendous reputation locally. For a guy with 9 fights to beat Weir was a Tyson / Douglas moment for us. The very next fight he KO'd Ayub Kalule. Moore wasn't just thrown in the deep end, he was dropped off in the ocean with blocks on his feet. Who knows how good he might have been if he'd been given a bit of a learning curve?
