DeJesus victory over Duran.....Would you categorize it as a fluke?

Not at all

 

Nope. De Jesus was a decent fighter. No shame for losing that fight.

Furthermore, it is necessary to take into consideration that Duran was very young and still relatively unexperienced at the time of this fight (although De Jesus was also very young)

Once Duran blosoomed as a fighter and got some experience, De Jesus had no hope against him.

 

Benny Blanco from the Bronx?

 

De Jesus was an excellent fighter in the prime of his career, whereas Duran was not only seemingly unmotivated and taken by surprise in this fight, but he was still developing his style. Both were young, yes, but Duran still had a fair bit of growing to do, whereas De Jesus had hit his stride. I still think even that young Duran on his A game would've beaten De Jesus in a very competitive fight, as the Duran we saw was clearly not. Either way it was still an excellent performance by De Jesus, the highlight of his career. Duran proved his class in the rematches, though De Jesus was already slipping by the time he was peaking in the third matchup.

 

good question, dejesus was great and im sure it was no fluke, but i do remember this... i watched that fight and inspired or not inspired, duran made it a close competetive fight even thought he lost. actually all three fights where competetive at least in the early going untill dejesus started to fade from duran relentlessnes in the rematch and rubber match.

 

I don't think it was really a question of age. Even by that stage, Duran had already pushed himself into the elite class and was a spectacular specimen. I think he was just having an off-night, what with it being a 10 round non-title bout and all. Duran was always a passion fighter, whose performance relied on his mental frame of mind. It was clear in his demeanor that he wasn't his usual aggressive, snarling self. He just seemed a bit lackadaisical and never really got his stride going. A combination of one fighter having an off night while the other boxes the fight of his life.

 

I suppose you've never seen Carlito's Way.

 

Of course, it's well documented that whenever Duran lost, he was either, young, green, old, unmotivated, didn't want to win, or had to lose 300lbs in two weeks pre-fight (and his opponent knew this and abused the poow duwan!).

Duran's REAL record against DeJesus: 2-0.

 

Nevermind that, Duwan is really still undefeated

 

Ignoring the two posts above, It wasn't a fluke. Esteban was a very good fighter.

 

I see it like Arguello's loss to Marcel. No shame whatsoever. Duran lost to a very, very good fighter. WOW! DURAN ISN'T SUPERMAN?!?!?!?!?!

for the record, he was dropped in the 2nd fight as well and that was still competitive until the 10th or so round. DeJesus was a top fighter, sometimes ATG's lose to very, very impressive and talented fighters. No shame, no fluke, no anomaly.

 

It was no fluke, it was the best thing that ever happended 2 Duran, great learning fight that brought him down 2 earth after the high's ov the Buchanan victory as he now realised that he had major opposition ahead of him in De Jesus, who if not 4 Duran would have ruled the Lightweights IMO:smoke