Re: the 147-160 lb fights in good fighting condition: Did Duran's wins over Palomino & Cuevas improve his legacy? Duran against Leonard (1-2), Benitiz (0-1), Hearns (0-1) Hagler (0-1), Davey Moore (1-0) and Iran Barkley (1-0)
Palomino solid yes, Cuevas a bit as he had been in poor form tho he may have fought well vs Duran. Hard to say given his prior bouts.
Palomino was one tough hombre wasn't he ?? I can't see any welter, ever, stopping him. He ruined our two welters Stracey and boy Green.Green was finished after their title go.
Palamino was nails! That was just a great welterweight period! Stracey vs Napoles, Palamino vs vs Stracey, Duran vs Palamino are still a favorites to watch!
Duran was actually considered shot by many when he fought Cuevas having been soundly beaten by Benitez and then Kirkland Laing of all people in his last three bouts. Cuevas was also thought by many to be damaged goods after losing to Stafford in the upset of the year. Many thought he had not recovered from the Hearns assassination and never would. This was considered a real crossroads bout for both that might tell if either of them had any real future in the game. It was a very difficult bout to sum up as tho Duran looked like he wound back the clock a bit, just how good or bad was Cuevas? Duran went into the Moore fight a 9-5 underdog and the vast majority picked Moore. However some astute judges did consider Duran had wound back the clock and looked determined again. In hindsight i myself don't think Cuevas was overly close to the fighter he'd been before the Hearns fight but i do think he was pretty dangerous against Duran. He could certainly still whack with enormous power and Duran looked superb in there.
Not significantly. Carlos had already lost his title to Benitez. Cuevas had lost to Roger Stafford. He certainly did not fight the best version of Cuevas. I would favor him over prime Cuevas, but that's not who he fought.
I thought the Palomino fight did wonders for his legacy. It's routinely cited as one of the very best examples of expert infighting and is called one of Duran's very best performances. Palomino wasn't used up, and had only lost the title one fight prior (in what was a more competitive contest against Benitez than is usually remembered). The Cuevas fight...........meh. Cuevas was done by then. Big name and it was interesting because of that, but only that.
Duran was masterful against Palomino. It`s one thing to beat him but he won virtually every round against a still very tough 147lber. He also was impressive against Cuevas. It was a crossroads fight for both guys as already stated. Pipino could still punch and he put some solid shots on Duran but Roberto took them and was just too skilled.
Had Duran lost the Cuevas fight his career would have been over. King had dumped him and as far as Arum was concerned this was a test fight to see how much Duran had left. That said, palomino was a significantly harder fight than was Cuevas.
