Duran retires June 21, 1980 - where do you rank him p4p?

He's still one of the greatest champs of all time, due to his lightweight run. He also has a brief but impressive welterweight stint, beating ex-champ Palomino and prime Leonard, which remains one of the most impressive fights to this day. Duran would not be as impressive without his multiple comebacks, winning back two more titles, lasting a rugged 15 with prime Hagler, and beating good fighters like Cuevas and Castro along the way, and holding his own up until his retirement in 2001. Duran would have been a bit less impressive. However, part of what makes Duran and fighters of his legendary status so great, is that they were so great that their greatness would not collapse due to taking out one segment of their career. Take out the 80s and 90s for Duran, and you still have the greatest lightweight of all time.

 

That's a tough one, because it's difficult to know what the public's sense of Duran would have been, after the euphoria of his Leonard victory had died down.

I think it would still have been seen as a definitive career. Incredibly special.
I wonder how his retiring after Leonard in Montreal would have impacted Leonard's ranking, as well.

Duran's welterweight ranking would be higher and perhaps Leonard's would drop - but the opposite might be the case for their pound-for-pound rankings.


Part of the Duran allure is the fact that he became both incredibly famous and infamous in the space of 6 months - the peak and the trough. But the trough was deep and coming back from that extremely low-point must have seemed impossible, at the time and soon after.

But, he managed it and did so against the odds (age and weight) - and that, I believe is the key to Duran's success and historical standing.

The road to redemption; the quality wins that brought back again that sense of glory, as well as the quality losses that regained him his respect - they are all part of the Duran story, which added to his already legendary status.

 

Probably a bit lower tbh.

For me he's quite clearly a top ten lock now.

He'd have still been top 25, but the victories over Moore and Barkley really sealed his greatness for me.

There isn't a single boxer in history that I would ever rank higher had they retired earlier.

 

The reason why he’s ranked as one if the GOAT is because of the fact that he dared to be greater even after beating SRL. He sought to fight every fighter, including monsters like Hearns, Hagler, Benitez, Cuevas, Barkley, Moore. If he retired right after beating SRL in Montreal’s then he wouldn’t be ranked as high IMO. The fact that he still stayed in the game way past his prime, plus achieving things nobody else thought he could pull off. His comebacks from his failures, plus his longevity are really what makes him considered one the greatest boxers in the world.

 

He'd be rated alot higher. The mystique alone would have been insane- only one loss and two time champion.
Then with Leonard beating Hagler years latter woild have added to it.
No knockout loss to Hearns. No No Mas to Leonard.

 

I think his ranking is much higher for fighting on. The Floyd Mayweather undefeated thing proves how that is not as big a deal as people think, and neither are loses. He fought everyone,and he managed to win titles against Moore and Barkley which showed he could fight well at higher weights. So he perservered, and he is mentioned as a Fab 4 which helps his legacy more. I always mentioned Duran's losses to Hearns, Benitez and Leonard, but he fought them all so that is a legacy and he adds to the legacy of those guys, which makes him remembered in connection.

I thought about this a lot. What does happen if a fighter retires at the perfect time. Hagler after he beats Hearns. Leonard after Hagler. Tyson after Spinks. Jones after Ruiz. When we look at it that way they do come out looking good. Looking at it this way. Hagler would probably come out better if he retired after Hearns. All of them would possibly. The thing about Duran is that he fought the best guys he ever fought after he moved up from lightweight. I do believe that Floyd Mayweather. Had he lost and become undefeated it might have opened him up to take more chances. Roy took more chances once he lost because they don't have that pressure to stay undefeated or to protect he image as much.

 

Much much higher.

 

Oh man. No way.

He was considered a "GOD" after beating Leonard. The Panamanian government even gave him special status so he didn't have to pay taxes. He was tax-exempt.

After the "No Mas" fight, he was essentially run out of the country. He was a humliation. And they revoked his tax exempt status.

He never EVER came close to getting back the status he had when he knocked off Leonard and had beaten every man he'd ever faced.

No one who followed boxing in 1980 and remembers how special Duran was considered both before that fight and after he won would ever say they rate him HIGHER after No Mas and the 15 losses that followed the Brawl in Montreal.

His fall was epic.

 

Wait, so you hold his past prime losses against him?

And you don't think beating Moore and Barkley added to his legacy?

 

Right where I rate Monzania Monzon.

 

In some ways higher - never lost to Leonard or Hearns, yet beat Leonard who would beat Hearns and Hagler. Beat every man he faced

 

I thought you only rated people on what they did at in their prime years?

 

Duran was in his prime, certainly at the age of 29 when he lost to Leonard 6 months after his career best win. The Cuevas and Moore wins highlight that Duran really needed the right style to look good against. Leonard on his tiptoes and Benitez are nightmare styles for him. As is Hearns.

 

So basically you think had he retired you would have a false impression of how good he was.