Duran explains why he quit (April 1981 Ring interview)

If Ray was really beating him up people would have understood him quitting. He would still have been scorned for not in the same way.
Even losing rounds Duran could have went the route just on his experience alone if he was healthy

 

It was Leonard who was not himself in the 1st fight. Duran got in his head, and Leonard fought the wrong fight.

In the 2nd match, Leonard was coming on, landing solid body shots, uppercuts, and hooks. Duran could not deal with his speed, power or accuracy... Duran might have gone down soon had he not quit.

 

Not himself? His style was no different from what it was against Benítez. He KO’d one of the greatest counterpunchers ever, so I’m sure he thought he could KO anyone. Certainly a former lightweight wouldn’t stand a chance.

And there’s nothing new about the popular narrative that he fought the wrong fight, which is nothing more than the media’s propaganda.

Howard Cosell was the biggest promoter of this narrative. He interviewed Leonard after the fight, who was initially willing to accept his defeat without excuses. Ray even credited Duran for his quickness and ability to avoid getting hit, but Howard kept egging him on to get him to say that next time he would do it “my way”.

 

If it was that easy, why did Leonard have to go out of his way to schedule the fight when Duran didn’t have time to get back in top form?

 

Leonard and Hearns got ready for each other in less than 3months... in 1981. they fought in Houston June 25, 1981 and fought Sept. 16, 1981.. Duran didn't know how to say no? When Davey Moore fought Duran he had 11 fights and just had dental surgery.. That is a real excuse.

 

I guess I just have a problem with anybody who tries too hard to make excuses. You want to be a lazy bast/rd and eat yourself out of a weight division? Fine, your business entirely. I'm not judging that. Just don't come back to us later and expect us to buy your line of bullsh/t that it wasn't your fault because of a list of imagined greivances you suddenly have. Just......no. Be a man and own your own shortcomings. F/ck your "aura."

 

I'm a huge Duran fan but there is no point in pretending that any reason he came up with for turning his back on Leonard is legitimate.

The outcome, whether he said the actual words No Mas or not (his biographer says he didn't), is the same. He stopped fighting, turned his back on his opponent and gave up his aura of invincibility and his legend in one fell swoop.

I've never believed it was cowardice that made him quit, more an unthinking reaction to circumstances but one that he no doubt immediately regretted once he saw the reaction it caused. That's not an excuse, just a possible explanation. Regardless, some people will never forgive him for it.

It took him more than two and half years to start earning back his reputation and I figure he did enough subsequently to earn most of it back but he'll always have that black mark against him, rightly or wrongly.

 

This notion that Duran was hurt badly before he quit and on his way to being KO'd is comical. He took FAR more punishment for a few rounds of the second half of fight no. 1, than he did in the entire second fight. He didn't quit in the first fight, nor was he close to being TKO'd or KO'd. It's laughable to suggest that he was.

 

I agree. It was Duran’s own fault. In no way did I ever condone Duran’s roller coaster fitness/debauchery routine.
I have a lot of respect for Leonard and Hearns who did a much better job in maintaining their fitness year round. Everyone needs an outlet, and it’s normal to celebrate after a big event, but Duran took the celebration to another level. Over the years it took its toll.

And yes he did win a few championship matches later on against bigger and stronger opponents even though he was far from his best. However that level of fitness was not good enough for going against the very best.
As I’ve pointed out before, as early as the Benítez fight you can just look at his body to see that he wasn’t the same athlete that competed in the 70’s. He wasn’t like Evander Holyfield who manufactured a bigger stronger body with weight training. Duran moved up in weight because he got fat and wasn’t motivated enough to trim down.

So yes, it was his fault that he let himself go. That doesn’t change the fact that he was a much better athlete up to and including the time of the so-called Brawl in Montreal.

 

I agree with this, though the question isn't really whether he was or wasn't better up to Montreal. Of course he was, most athletes do decline after about that age. I'd just like to see him man up at some point and simply say "You know what? I made some real bad decisions and let things get away from me and I lost focus. I wasn't ready for Leonard in November of 1980 and in the heat of the moment I made a bad move that ended up affecting me for years afterward. I would just like it if fans could appreciate me for what they knew I had been and was able to regain after that. Mea culpa, but we are all more than what we show on any given bad night."

There. Done. And no one would think less of him, but he keeps perpetuating the B.S.

 

That’s what is known as a figure of speech: a phrase used in a non-literal sense for vivid effect.

What he meant was that Duran was in such bad shape that he wasn’t able to perform as well as he did in Montreal.