Duran explains why he quit (April 1981 Ring interview)

Duran:
Ernesto Marcel
Hiroshi Kobayashi
Ken Buchanan
Guts Ishimatsu
Esteban DeJesusx2
Edwin Viruet
Carlos Palomino
Ray Leonard
Pipino Cuevas
Davey Moore
Iran Barkley
Hector Camacho (robbed)

Hearns:
Pipino Cuevas
Randy Shields
Wilfred Benitez
Roberto Duran
Dennis Andries
Ray Leonard (robbed)
Virgil Hill

 

if you do believe what you're saying, as I said before, your logical deduction skills need work. Do you know what the word excuse is defined as? If he didn't train properly for a fight, and losses, him saying he didn't train properly isn't an excuse, it's called a FACT. It would be an excuse if he did indeed get in great shape, lost, but then said he didn't train. Since that is what you're claiming as fact, you'll have to go ahead and make your case with your insider information you must be sitting on. So I await this evidence.

Next, your premise and conclusion are very unsound with the "he didn't beat the best he fought, look he lost to Hearns, Hagler, Wilfed, SRL etc etc, it showed he wasn't in their league" In order for that conclusion to be true, Duran would've had to fought them in HIS PRIME and THEIR PRIME. That is the only way you could assert such an conclusion. You can never do so, when one guy is PAST HIS PRIME and BEST DIVISION, while another fight is smack dab in their prime and best division. You could never draw the parallel you're with your statement. What further makes your statement invalid, is not only was Duran was I said above, in some instances he also didn't train properly. So that's a double whammy that makes your conclusion totally invalid. Yet, amazingly enough, you act like your conclusion is sound lol.

Just as a side note, you say Duran lost to all the best fighters he faced, while others beat the best they faced. You gave Hearns as an example of this, when in fact, he has done worse against the best he faced than Duran. The best fighters Hearns ever faced were SRL and Hagler, and he was KO'd 2 times and got a draw. Those are the two best fighters he faced ever, and he got sparked twice. The two best fighters Duran faced imo were SRL and Hagler. Duran won one, lost one, and lost a close decision. Which again, goes to show that Duran didn't in fact do worse against the best fighters he fought compared to Hearns. That's not even getting into how Hearns got utterly destroyed by a fighter than Duran (while further past his best) was able to beat.

 

To be fair though, Hearns was best at WW/SWW .. and just an ok MW ... If you include Hagler for him at MW and exclude Duran at SWW.. wouldn't be fair ..imo ..( and I would include Benetiz ) but I do agree your overall assessment .. just my 2 cents

 

Yes I thought for awhile it was five weeks but I looked it back up....it was 5 months...Duran just quit like a dog

 

Doesn't matter. Duran had already cemented his legacy at Lightweight, moved up to welter and beat Leonard. He was in his 30s, partying like an animal, packing on middle aged weight, fighting for bonus points with nothing to lose. You are acting like he was finally testing himself...the man already had an all time great legacy. If Hagler and Hearns lost to an aging fighter with a 66" wing span who started his career at 119 in the god damn 60s, no matter how great, they wouldn't have much of a case for being P4P GOATs.

Because you are biased to the point of delusion. It's celebrated as one of the greatest wins in history. Nobody in their right mind would rate a win over Hill over a win over a prime Leonard.

What a pile of ****.

Duran was 35 years old, fighting 20 pounds over his prime weight, giving up about 6 inches in height and some 13 inches in wing span to a prime 25 year old. It's not about Duran just fighting a "complete guy who can punch", it's about conceding every physical advantage by monstrous proportions while on the decline to a great fighter who is pretty damn close to his apex.

If Duran pulled that fight off, it wouldn't be a case of "oh, he finally beat a complete guy who can punch", it would be one of the greatest wins in the history of boxing. Look at how well received the Barkley fight is, it's not because Barkley was some all time great destroyer, it's become unlike you, normal people have a gasp of context, and understand it was a huge concession of height, reach, and youth to a faster power puncher.

 

Palomino and Viruet? Lets add to Hearns . Juan Roldan and James Shuler and Harold Weston
Hearns:
Harold Weston
Pipino Cuevas
Randy Shields
Wilfred Benitez
Roberto Duran
James SHuler
Dennis Andries
Juan Roldan
Ray Leonard (robbed) Still we are talking elite here. I cannot say Hearns beat Ray, he didn't. I wish he got hat decision, but that was dumb to go after him when he could have sat back and won round 12 and he fight. Never knew why Tommy did that.

 

I don't think the level he fought at lightweight cemented his legacy and matched the Leonard win for him which was good,, although to me Ray fought his fight and was not yet the great we knew a little later. Leonard in June of 1980 was no more experienced as a champ than Hill in 1991. Hill was 26 and 10 title defenses and was undefeated. Was he not a silver medalist? Duran gets more credit than he should. and other guys less. The Barkley fight. I knew Duran would win.. I knew it, which how could that be a great win for me if I knew it was Duran's fight in 1989,, and the guys at the time like Hearns in a rematch or Kalambay or Nunn would have beaten Duran easily. How is that or anything I said delusional?

 

QUOTEHe did not beat the best he fought, he lost to Hearns, Hagler, Leonard and Benitez... Hearns and Benitez outclassed him rather badly. and as I said. Duran fought at 154 as earlya s 1978. No Duran would not have to fight them in his prime if he never fought an elite like Benitez or Hearns in his prime, so when he did fight them he lost rather easily years before he retired in 2001. The train properly thing I do not listen to really. He was paid to be in shape and he beat lesser and tough guys like Moore and Barkley. If he could beat them, he came in shape to the other guys, he just wanted an excuse. I don't think anything I say is invalid. I would not say Hagler was better than Benitez,and Cuevas and Hill were on title defenses 10 and 11

 

After the first Leonard fight, here are the raw facts: You are looking at a 12+ year career with a 72-1 record spanning featherweight to welterweight, an 8 year title reign as lineal Light Weight Champion, and a second lineal title at Welter. Two wins over reigning lineal Champions in Buchanan and Leonard, wins over two recently dethroned lineal Champions in Kobayshi and Palomino, unification title win over WBA Champion De Jesus, and wins over future world champions Guts, Mamby, and Marcel. If you don't think that is a legacy, you don't know what a legacy is.

Let's address this first, you are talking out of both sides of your mouth. You are dogging Duran for excuses and refusing to give them credence, while simulatenously writing off his greatest win with one of the lamest excuses ever.

The great we knew a little later? Ray was the highly celebrated 1979 fighter of the year coming off arguably his career best performance against Benitez, and he's just one year away from his win over the Hitman. So the Duran fights are sandwiched between two of Ray's greatest performances..perfectly positioned right in the middle of his peak run. Are you seriously trying to tell me Ray was only great for a 12 month period in 1981 before he retired, ending his first career? Get out of here.

Leonard was 27-0, lineal welter weight Champion, and fighter of the year. He had already fought and beat about 10-12 opponents rated by RING. He was a phenom and will always be regarded as greater than Virgil Hill. No contest.

I like this. You are asking us to discredit a universally praised historical win because you are claiming that 30 years ago you predicted the upset. Hahaha....

What's next.. "I told everyone Ali would beat Liston! I knew Ali would win. How could that be a great win if I knew Ali would win."

 

I accept your concession on all fronts. Your premise has been proven invalid, and clearly so. Duran didn't fight them in his prime, nor in his best division, while they were in their best division. That AUTOMATICALLY invalidates your premise of "See, when Duran fought the best, he couldn't beat them cause he was inferior to them". I accept our concession on this point. I also accept your concession that you have no insider knowledge that the stories of him being out of shape were a lie, and he was in fact great shape as you claim. Get better at logical deduction

 

Bob Arum visited Duran during the summer and said Duran was a whale, he had cases of champagne and steaks laying around at sais he at least weighed 200 lbs,,,,,which explains why Arcel wanted it delayed doesn't it.

 

Leonard fought Durans fight? what does that mean? I've never heard that excuse used for anyone but Ray Leonard, ....Ali! you lost to Joe Frazier, why did you fight his fight??? Geez!

 

It's ******ed logic. It's not like SRL slipped on a Vaseline on the floor and it changed the whole complexion of the fight. He tried to fight how he fought best, and how he was instructed to fight by a trainer vastly more experienced than anybody here. He had every right to believe he was the bigger guy, stronger guy, faster, taller, hit harder and he should be able to control the center of the ring. Why would that be a bad strategy? He always fought that way, he never fought like he did in N.O. before or after. The closest he came was Hagler, and even that wasn't that close to N.O. Yet he was somehow supposed to know, hey, I need to change up my whole strategy to fight a former LW, who's almost 30 moving up to take my title? That just plain silly.

 

Yes, the former lineal Welter Weight Champion and a long time top contender, universally praised by his peers and writers, that was only decisively beat by Duran at Lightweight.

And go ahead, add all the guys to Hearn's list you want.

You can then throw in Duran's second tier wins like Jorge Castro, Lampkin, Takayama, Adolfo Viruet, Mamby..etc. Duran's resume is loaded with quality wins. Hell, Castro maybe an upper tier win now that I think about it. He was a genuine top MW with wins over JDJ and Johnson, and Duran was pushing 50.