Durans Win Over Barkley

Hey McVey,

this was something I brought up in a previous thread where someone asked whether Duran's resume was overrated.

IN defending his exalted position, I pointed out his giant slaying phase in the 80's as being astonishing, and the two fights you mention are key performances.

However, when I discussed his resume I focussed more on Leonard I, whom he beat by not only climbing up a full weight class when at least 2 years post-prime (I take Duran's prime as 1974-78, 7-11 years after he first turned pro and around his 44th-65th fights), whereas his opponent was a P4P ATG fully in his prime, and also in his most comfortable weight class.

I think this victory might be without equal in boxing history.

 

I don't think so. Nothing comes to mind.

I must say that Duran was superb against Barkley.He used all his experience and guile to defeat a younger, stronger fighter. That knockdown in the 11th was a masterclass in pinpoint power punching.

As much as I respected Duran in the fight though, in many ways Iran was the guy who really earned my respect. I don't think he ever looked better. They say that when you win the title, you become 25% better than you were. Well, to me Barkley looked 50% better than he ever had before.

If it wasn't the legendary and fired up Duran he was fighting and it was someone else, Barkley would have retained the title. You could see the respect both men had for each other after the fight.

 

Absolutely. "It takes two to Tango," and the truly extraordinary things about Duran's performances against Hagler and Barkley is that the defending champions rose to the occasion.

This is in sharp contrast to Hagler's performance against SRL, or Duran's showing against Hearns, where the winner was indeed superb, but the loser was dreadful.

Ray Arcel's comment about Duran's triumph against Barkley reflected one of the most evolved displays in boxing annals: "I think he may know more about boxing than I do!"

Duran should have been ruined by Hearns, as Cuevas was. Patterson should not have been expected to resurrect his career after the disastrous losses to Johansson, Liston and Ali. SRL thought Hearns was going to retire after Hagler demolished him. ("Hey, I think he's going to retire! The man got beat!") Hearns came back from Barkley, The Blade came back from Duran, and Holmes came back from Tyson. These are hallmarks of extraordinary resilience and greatness.

 

I think Duran is the GOAT but Barkley won the fight.

 

to me durans fight against barkley is one of the best victories in boxing history, even the duran hater berstein admitted it was a miracle

 

I still think this fight was much much closer than seems to be taken for granted. Great performance regardless.

 

Hagler actually performed below his normally brilliant best from the time of this fight. He was in a very dominating period both before AND after. Totally agree.

 

Duran=Mayweather
Hagler=Delahoya
Barkley=Baldomir

Duran=Leonard
Hagler=Hagler
Barkley=Lalonde

Duran=RJJ
Barkley=Ruiz

Duran=Charles
Hagler=Marciano
Barkley=Walcott

Duran=Delahoya
Hagler=Hopkins
Barkley=Vargas/Sturm

Duran=Toney
Hagler=Sam Peter
Barkley=Holyfield/Ruiz

Beating Barkley doesn't mean allot, in your 5th division or not.

 

I shudder to think of what Tony Ayala would've done to either of them.

 

Scary stuff isn't it

 

i thought duran beat barkley by 1 pnt, kd made all the difference on my card

 

I agree, but I still think Marv was much better against Duran than he was SRL.

Hagler took care of business with Hearns and Minter the way he should have gone about assaulting Ray and El Cholo, the way Tommy went after Roberto. To me, that is the greatest flaw in Hagler's makeup; that he remarkably failed to display the killer mentality in his draw with Antuofermo, his 15 rounder with Duran, or his career ender against Leonard. With Hearns, the severe laceration he sustained abruptly filled him with an immediate sense of urgency. Otherwise, he appeared somewhat dampened by the pressure of his highest profile events.

Duran's performances against both Hagler and Barkley were historic displays of greatness, regardless of how the judges scored them, no matter who was offcially deemed the winner.

 

Ayala would have been another Cuevas to Duran. Too much skill and experience in Roberto's favor. Unlike Hearns, Ayala would have wound up in Duran's range, and Duran was not an easy target to nail downstairs (as SRL discovered in Montreal).