Didn't Palomino come off a competitive loss to Benitez last time out? Nobody bothered to put up a regional belt, or make the fight an eliminator to make it a 12 rounder?
At this stage, Monroe Brooks was the only scheduled 12 rounder Duran had ever competed in, a main event bout also at MSG. But this time, Duran-Palomino was a semifinal match, with Holmes-Weaver I at the top of the card. (Duran would not compete in another scheduled 12 rounder until 1983, when he headlined the card with Cuevas.) In virtually any scenario where a title fight was not the top feature, Duran-Palomino almost certainly would have been a 12 rounder.
Boxing was a bit better back then. People didn't just concoct titles out of thin air to tag on to non-title fights as readily as they do nowadays. What's the point of putting a meaningless title on the fight ? 10 rounds is a good distance for a fight.
Thank Amon Ra no regional belt was there on the line back in '79 New York...... I was never fond of that NABF and USBA horse manure anyway.... Or worse yet, a single state title belt..... Just propaganda, etc......... Duran W10 Palomino MR.BILL
Palomino was slipping at that stage.....10 rounds was his best shot. At the end of the fight Duran told Palomino to retire....he just didn't have it any more.
10 rounders were normal fights at that time. Nowadays there are so many titles and the smaller titles NABF and USBA are 12 round also, that having 10 rounders hardly ever comes up in a top 10 or 15 contenders fights. Back 30 years ago most top fighters fought 10 round fights.
Why not? A good solid 10 round fight without any "Mickey Mouse" Title on the line is what a real boxing fan wants. Woller
Duran vacated the Lightweight Title in January of 79, probably because it was just too hard to make that weight. They didn't fight until June of 79 so no title was on the line. Duran's last fight at Lightweight was against Esteban DeJesus in January of 78. Like others have mentioned, that was a time when you had less of an alphabet soup with all the competing governing bodies vying for title fights. That is one of my main gripes with boxing today. There's way too many organizations with their champions and that makes it hard to have a unified world champion.
:-( The fight would of been far more important if it was for the WBA Intercontinental America's Senior Junior Silver Latino Pan American Gold International Pan Federation Interim Super title. Both these fighters clearly sucked as Roy Jones Jr defended more titles in one fight, than both of these won in their entire careers combined.
Forgive me for posting this again, but whenever i see the mention of Duran-Palomino, this incident always comes to mind. For those who've not read it, hope you enjoy: When Roberto Duran was training to fight Carlos Palomino at Madison Square Garden, he worked out at Howard Albert's gym, an old factory loft in the Garment Center. It was summertime, and sweltering. Every Latino worker in the area-- and their families -- watched their hero train at lunchtime. The gym was a steam room -- jammed cheek-to-jowl with the adoring. They pressed so close Duran barely had room for floor exercises. When he was done, he jumped in the ring to shadow box. Spanning what looked like a crowded subway car, you could see chests swell faces beaming with pride. Plump mothers holding babies in their arms stood at the ring apron, while their little ones looked up saucer-eyed at this God. In the midst of this love fest, somebody in the back -- unbelievably! -- kept shouting at Duran in Spanish: "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU! Duran paid him no mind and continued to shadow box. But the heckler was relentless: "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU! "PIPINO CUEVAS WILL KILL YOU! Finally, Duran fixed him with a glare, stretched as far over the ropes as he could -- just above the glowing faces of mothers and toddlers -- and yanked down his trunks, grabbed his nuts and roared in Spanish: "PIPINO CUEVAS CAN SUCK MY ****!
To say Duran and Palomino sucked is beyond belief. You clearly seem to have a love affair with what Roy Jones has done in the ring. He's a great fighter and if he finally retires, he'll be a lock for the IBHOF, but to dismiss a fighter with the pedigree of Duran is bull**** on your part.
Good for Palomino that it was just a 10 rounder..I thought Duran put on one of his greatest displays of speed, skill and power vs Carlos. The thing he really laid down a clinic on was those feints...never have I seen a greater display of the art of feinting than in this fight...he had Palomino as intimidated and flustered with them..and all to set up that brilliant offense on the bigger man. Duran deserves more than a "mention" here, clearly,lol.
I personally think it was Duran's peak performance. Palomino was a proper threat pre fight, and as mentioned above, Duran took him to school.