How good was Duran's chin

If I remember correctly Floyd Mayweather Sr. also said the same thing regarding Ray's punching. Of course, Ray was younger when he fought Floyd and hadn't yet developed his power to the extent he later did.

 

That's right, and the self evident proof of that is how many times guys like Floyd, Sr., Randy Shields, Benitez and Duran were able to evade his shots.

As a transplanted New Englander, I viewed Ray's previous bout against Dicky Eklund in Boston. For me, that was the match which truly established SRL's ability to unload late round combination punching with power. He decked Eklund twice in round nine, and his mother came to the corner between rounds in tears, discussing whether or not to stop it. Eklund set the stage for Floyd, Sr., where again he showed he could carry power late into a match.

Ray's rapid climb up the ladder was Hell. He was exhausted at the end of his debut six rounder against Luis Vega, trying desperately for the knockout at the end before his hometown fans, really expending himself, and boosting his competitive stamina. His second match was against Allentown's Willie "Fireball" Rodriguez, who really rang his bell early. He had 11 bouts in 1978, most against extremely resistant opposition. Angelo Dundee brought him up as quickly and well as anybody ever has for any ATG.