Is Montreal's Duran The Best Fighter Ever

I like to know why people think Leonard was some sort of moving machine hopping around all over the ring. Leonard moved when necessary. He was not a runner. Leonard speed came from his upper body movement and his blazing hand speed. Duran at his best out fought him and out sped him with his own speed and timing.

 

Absolutely.

 

Only when he moved up in weight and was fighting guys like Hagler.

He certainly wasn't running against Hearns or Benitez.

 

Both Hearns and Leonard used the ring in their first fight. Hearns was more the aggressor in the initial third of the fight. But Leonard was not running; more parrying the Hearns jab and looking for the way in to launch his own attacks. He broke through in the early-middle rounds, forcing Hearns to re-assess his tactics and go on the back foot himself (and the rest is history).

Anyone who has watched the bout, will have noticed how, for a lot of the fight, both of them were aiming to control distance, poised to throw and time their shots to land successfully so as to gain the upperhand. This, regardless of which of them took the role of aggressor.

It was a great display of technical skill from both guys.

 

Good post!!

 

I can see the only fight u have seen Leonard in is against Hagler.

 

What are you talking about?:roll:

 

For Leonard to stand and bang with Hagler, that would be a total mismatch. Hearns with all his power simply could not hurt Hagler. In fact, when he hit Hagler’s head, he said it felt like a Helmet. So I doubt that Leonard could have done any better.

 

Hell no.

 

Many people don't even recognize the names on Duran's resume besides Leonard, Hagler and Hearns, Duran at 147 was two weight classes away from his peak yet he was able to compete with the best up to 160, he is one of the greatest of all time and if people want to say that Leonard wasn't at his best during the Montreal, well, Duran certainly wasn't at his best during the rematch.
Regarding Hearns, yes, he is an awful match up for Duran but there are about 4/5 fighters in HISTORY that can beat Hearns at 147 or 154, none of them are clear favorites over him.

 

Hearns broke his hand when he hit Hagler in the first round. He also said that he felt totatally exhausted after that round. Would the outcome have been different if he had just boxed and kept Hagler at a distance?

 

Not

Even

Close

SRR would have destroyed him, and several other ww's.

 

The thing about the fab 4 is that on their best night all of them could beat each other, however, Hagler was the natural middleweight, southpaw, great jab, chin, power, stamina, skills, footwork and he is one of the toughest fighters of all time, a real chip on his shoulder, I think that during that night, he beats Hearns even without a broken hand on Hearns side, he was willing to die in the ring.