Did anyone like Leonard-Duran III?

Awful fight, another 'no mas' from Duran. His second in a series of three- the final one vs Pat Lawlor: "My shoulder's gone...oh, no it's my bicep.. or maybe it's my elbow...or my arse...I always get the final two mixed up".

 

Yes, the clamour for a 3rd fight in late 1980 could be heard all the way from 'Tooties Bar & Grill' on 35th Street in Panama City to 'Chico's Bakery' on 38th Street...in Panama City.

 

Funny story about this fight, I missed this one live. I rarely ever have missed a big fight in the last 25+ years..

My dad who hated Leonard and loved Duran didn't see the fight live either back then but had gotten a highlight on the news or something and all he knew was that Leonard got a really bad cut but won a decision.. So I asked him hey pop did you hear who won the fight and he was like Yeah apparently Leonard was all busted up but still won, typical bs!! Dad felt as though Hagler and Hearns both beat Leoanrd and were robbed so his Leonard feelings were very clear..

I got the fight off HBO (I think) a week later and made him watch it so that he could see that Leonard dominated Duran, which he then acknowledged lol...

 

:good I like it ! The best time,imo,would have been in 1984 after Duran had beaten Davey Moore,and put on a respectable losing performance against Marvin Hagler. And Leonard had decided to stay active after the Kevin Howard fight. Mind you,it would had to have taken place before Duran's bout with Hearns.

 

Why I woke up and thought of this fight I have no idea. Huge letdown though. I think I assumed Leonard wouldn’t move as much and there would be some great exchanges. I remember watching ESPN right after Leonard / Hearns 3 and they asked Duran who he thought won. Seems like he had a white tuxedo on and he looked he hadn’t fought in years. He was really heavy.

Having a fight outdoors in freezing cold couldn’t have helped anyone. Leonard looked relatively quick. Duran looked trim but losing that much weight had to be brutal. I remember reading a comment before he fought Barkley that basically said “Roberto hasn’t been up for recent fights. He’ll be ready for Barkley. He thinks he’s strong.” I don’t know if he just viewed Leonard as a payday or not. It was a bad matchup that night. I’ve watched it on the HBO replay and that was it.

I think there was talk of a 3rd fight with Hearns. There was criticism that Leonard was now fighting on a seniors tour. Sadly, there was an interview with Benetiz’ manager or someone who said he should get a rematch. I wonder if the criticism is what made Leonard decide to dip his toe into the “young fighter” pool and fight Norris.

 

I'll be honest; Ray was brilliant befuddling the slow footed clod with the kind of footwork not seen since the original Sugar Ray and unleashing lightning fast combinations that had Duran intimidated.

Duran couldn't get close

Shades of Leonard Duran 2!

Ray showed he hadn't lost a step and settled the question in everyone's mind that Ray was the superior fighter p4p.

Clancy & Ryan seemed to be awestruck, calling it "an absolutely masterful performance"

Had the opponent been Terry Norris, I think we'd have seen a completely different outcome.

 

I’m assuming you weren’t around then. You couldn’t sell a third match until Duran redeemed himself from quitting.

Most people at the time thought the second fight was a sham and Duran toook a dive by quitting to set up a third fight to fleece the public. His manager set it up so the money for the second fight was deposited into Roberto’s account as soon as he satisfied the conditions of the contract by being in the ring when the opening bell rang — otherwise his purse would have been held up.

The lack of a third match in the same timeframe was all down to Duran quitting.

 

I was reading a Sports Illustrated magazine in the magazine section of the Publix on 17-92 in Winter Park Florida with my office mate and friend during a lunch break. There was an article about the fight. Alluding to the fact some people called it boring the author wrote some people rather watch van Gogh cut off his ear than paint Sunflowers.

ON EDIT- I found the article:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1989/12/...to-duran-38-in-a-fight-dedicated-to-posterity

The things we remember.

 

Good god.. No.
Hated it. Don't think I've watched it all the way through more than once.
Coming after Ray v Hearns 2,i was very disappointed.

 

Leonard's fight plan could have been devised by Sun Tzu, who wrote the bible of military strategy, The Art of War, in 500 B.C. His tactics were textbook perfect, the sort, as Leonard said after his lopsided victory, "that you try to teach young fighters." The 12-round bout had all the beauty of a bullfight, but without the expected horror of the kill.

Still, the fans didn't like it; Leonard gave them artistic perfection when they wanted heated battle, and they booed lustily. Most fight fans would not spend a dime to watch Van Gogh paint Sunflowers, but they would fill Yankee Stadium to see him cut off his ear.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1989/12/...to-duran-38-in-a-fight-dedicated-to-posterity

 

Come on, Ray was BRILLIANT!

 

Both their accountants.

 

I was very disappointed in this fight.

Duran had no fire at all, and was obviously not giving it his best. Neither fighter ever brings up this fight when they speak. Both must have known to take it easy. If Leonard thought it was some exclamation point on their rivalry he would never shut up about it.

He knew and Duran knew , and then we all found out about it as they pawed at each other. Leonard did look worse for wear than Duran.

Duran should have come in with more fire, but that fire was out by that time. He had just became middleweight champ and never really rose to the heights he was capable of after that, not even for Leonard. Bad fight . It just showed Leonard was the taller younger man with a good jab and enough movement to run around longer than Duran was willing to put out the effort to catch. It was just a sparring match for him.

Duran > Leonard p4p. But this was just to far from both of their best to be worthy of watching more than once. Leonard was only 33, but Duran was pushing 40 ( 38) . Just not even a close approximation of what Duran was capable of. It was just about the money at that point.

Leonard just ran around a bunch - and even at that late stage of Duran's career you could tell he would beat Ray if he was prime.

 

Publix has a great deli section. Their subs are fantastic.