The more I rewatch Duran from his lightweight days the more I remember at the time he was more known as a slugging madman than a super gifted fighter .. starting with the third DeJesus fight he started to exhibit his overall skill set .. when he moved up in weight and could not overpower guys the same he really not only started to show it more but really became a different fighter .. if I had to say when it was the Palamino fight where Duran displayed the skills of a master ..while he peaked in Leonard 1 for the most part he went on to show exceptional skills well into his forties .. anyone else see this ?
I feel like he lost his legs soon after his move to WW. As a result he stayed in the pocket more in a James Toney type fashion with a similar type of "up-close slipperyness" with excellent intuition and punch selection. We would still sometimes see flashes of the fiery prime Duran with spring in his legs but he seemed to struggle more and more with opponents movement as he moved up in weight and got older. He effectively cut down and punished movers like Viruet and Fernandez at Lightweight with pressure and body punches.... .but by the late 80s it looked like he couldn't even cut down the ring on an arthritic senior citizen anymore because he lost his fire and his fooywork(more like penguin waddle) looked like he needed hip replacement and had cement shoes on. He still remained dangerous and highly effective against bigger guys who came to him even into his 40s, the sheer visual size and "physique" difference in the Barkley fight was absurd. A non boxing fan looking at that would scratch his head and wonder why that potbellied old man was allowed in the ring vs muscular dangerous looking Barkley but Duran still put him on the canvas. Duran as a past his prime former LW champ lasted 15 rounds with gave one of the greatest MW of all time who was at his peak a run for his money. That shows you how great hehwas p4p and it's why Duran is my favorite fighter of all time
I would say his peak was the 1978 DeJesus fight. He never could keep his weight down after that. At welter he was always overmatched against bigger stronger guys. It was a testament to his skills that he was able to stay with these larger opponents.
From the Buchanan fight onwards, he slowly assimilated Arcel and Brown's influence and teachings into his style, the more layered and textbook characteristics being developed and culminating in the DeJesus, Palomino and Leonard master classes. The animal who hunted down Buchanan with incredible swiftness in an atg display wasn't the more calculated one that put down DeJesus in the third fight. You could see against Thompson, Viruet, Bizzarro etc that he was trying to polish and hone his style as he went, actually to the point where he made it slightly harder than necessary for himself despite being highly dominant. Duran of the Buchanan fight would've beaten Viruet, Fernandez and Bizzarro with even greater ease, it was like he was experimenting against them due to not feeling threatened to the point where he lacked a bit of urgency for stretches. The Buchanan Duran would never have beaten Leonard or Barkley though. It was here that the slicker more honed style and developed ring craft paid dividends. Nice thread btw.
I think that Freddie Brown gets sold a little short at times. I believe when you see Duran develop as Champion into a slick boxer and a master infighter your seeing the influence of Brown. Freddie was there day to day working with Duran and Brown`s whole life was boxing. For example eating breakfast Freddie Brown get up and demonstrate different moves and tips to his fighters. Brown had Vito Antafurmo as well and he was pretty strong inside with some slick moves. He had some finesse. I don`t mean to take anything from Ray Arcel but he would come into Duran`s camp about 3 weeks before and fight and go over the finishing touches. Game plan and tweak a few things where he saw fit. A fresh pair of eyes so to speak. I think Freddie Brown was the best boxing teacher that there was. He wasn`t smooth with the media like Dundee and Arcel.
Very good post brother. I was going to mention how underrated and important Freddie was in developing Duran but my post was already escalating in length. Good point about Vito, I've always thought he had more finesse and cute manoeuvres than credited for despite essentially being a workmanlike mauler.
