Look at who Evander fought just 2 years prior; did they stop him? He arguably beat Ruiz in their rubber match. He wasn't the force he was 3 or 4 years prior, but was still a top 5 heavyweight almost impossible to get out of there.
Leonard - Duran was scored 9-6 by AP for Duran. I think that's spot on. Even Leonard knows he lost that fight. I can't score less than 7 rounds for Duran.
I watched the first duran fight again with my father(who doesn't like leonard) 2 weeks ago he had it I believe either 10-3 2 even or 10-4 1 even I was trying to counter hi bias but I couldn't give leonard more than 6 rounds Btw I don't think dubble chin understands weight classes. I guess if we pay FMJ a billion dollars to fight joseph parker or wilder and FMJ puts on a whole lot of fat an gets knocked out then clearly wilder is better. Durand best years were at LW he was still excellent as a welter but his power didn't translate as well vs WWs in the second leonard fight he didn't perform and when he came back against niño Gonzalez and luigi minchillo he wasn't the same fighter anymore that's how I see it. Duran is as much a real MW/SMW as Roy jones is a real CW/HW just because Jones' corpse spent the last7-8 years there. Durans real legacy is his LW run an the win a leonard, everything after that is just a bonus
Leonard was the best of that era, and because that era was so deep in talent , he has to be considered one of the best welters in the entire history of that great division . I have him at number#2 and any reasonable fight fan shouldn't have him out the top 5/7 welters in history. One of my main ways of judging a fighters greatness is who he defeated, and most importantly WHEN he defeated them. Does L.Holmes really deserve credit for defeating Ali at the time they fought? How about Marciano's ko of Louis? Or Lewis ko of Tyson? Or almost all , if not all Mayweather Jr 's " Big Name" opponents? Look at every " Big name " opponent Leonard fought. Everyone with the exception of Hagler had success "after" he fought them. And Hagler has no one to blame but himself and his team for letting Leonard win the only way he could've, he fought the wrong fight. And probably if he didn't allow his ego to step in the way, would've made the correct adjustments and defeated Leonard in a rematch (leonard did ask for it) Is it Leonards fault Hagler fought the wrong fight? My biggest issue with Leonard was the many lay-offs he had. It couldn't really be the fear of the detached retina because he fought many times after that was discovered. I can understand the point of the last part of his career being lackluster. But most ATG'S greats had that same issue. From J.Johnson to R.Jones jr most fighters fought on way to long. To single Leonard out seems as you have an agenda.
Holyfield was positively shot to shlt.. He looked horrible in the Byrd and Donald fights neither of whom by the way had any power to test whatever durability he may or may not have had left. The Valuev fight looked like a gentleman's agreement between two guys to not hurt each other and I still gave it to Nikolay.
Oh really? So basically your saying weight divisions are meaningless? Good to know. Most fans understand that when a fighter moves up 3 + divisions it has an impact on his effectiveness. Duran was also about 33 years old while Hearns was in his mid 20s but hey that`s just me using facts and common sense. be serious please.
Stop whining about weight classes. No one forced duran to move up and fight that monster just like no one asked roy to fight ruiz. He chased greatness and failed. His record against the fab 4 is 1-4 and he barely beat leanard who fought stupid, end of discussion. You cant just dismiss everything that happened the instant he moved past his so called best weight because he had a lot of success too. Only a fanboy with an agenda is willing to ignore durans accomploshments beyond lightweight to make excuses for his shortcomings.
I agree, honestly when you even out all factors I have Leonard 4th. Looking at it from a truly pound for pound comparison. Hagler was the most dominant and clearly lost a controversial super tight decision at the end of his career. I have him winning that fight by a point. Duran beats leonard and moved up to do it. The second fight Duran was clearly not in his best condition. Both of them in peak shape and duran as the smaller man he beats him. Hearns clearly beat Leonard the second time and Leonard admitted that. And the first fight Hearns was was ahead, I understand that Leonard still pulled it out and that was impressive, but Hearns outboxed him and was just the better fighter. Bottom line is out of all the rounds that they fought Hearns won more of them. Then if you want to look at other factors an old blown up Duran beat Iran Barkley. In sum, Leonard waited for Hagler to look like he was slipping and got an iffy decision, lost more rounds to Hearns and lost to Duran when they were both on their A game.
Hearns may have deserved the decision ,but the Hagler fight was very close ,too close for it to be a robbery and everybody knows that,or they should do! Personally I though it was a great era You can certainly make a case for Hearns winning the rematch. The Hagler fight was too close to be called a robbery. The 80's gave us Tyson Holmes Chandler Pintor Gomez Arguello Hill McCrory Curry Saad Muhammad Mustapha Muhammad Marvin Johnson Czyz Mike Spinks Hagler Hearns Leonard Benitez Qawi Ramirez Chavez Boza Edwards McGuigan Pedroza Sanchez Pryor Nelson Cuevas Bramble Mancini Whitaker Rosario And many, many more.I'm 68 and I cant think of a stronger era , or one with more competitive fights in it. Leonard is the top of the 4 imo, he has wins over all the others which is something none of them can say. Victories over: Benitez Kalule Hearns Duran Hagler Cement his place.
Very unfair .Holyfield was shot to pieces by 2003-2004. He reached the nadir of his career. It didn't help he would be inactive and than come back against the divisions three most awkward foes Byrd, Donald and Toney.... EH never lost confidence in his ability and blamed it all on his shoulder injuries......I happen to believe him because once he had surgery he fought another 5 plus years and never looked so bad........It was clear to me he beat Valuev.......and he put together some good wins.....was he shame in the end as he more or less retired as there was no place left to go.....he was over 50 , still a specimen in a division that sans the klitchkos was getting weaker and weaker, the klitchkos wouldn't fight him out of respect and would have annihilated him anyway......but the other guys wouldn't fight him out of fear for what a old EH could still do...or outweighed him by 40 lbs...so he had nowhere to go and retired
Youre probably right even though holyfield was slipping fast after the lewis fights....it was still shocking to see what toney did to him, to play with him, mock him and make him quit......to those of us used to the dominant holyfield of 86-99 it was a real shock just to see him struggle in 3 fights with ruiz. but the rahman beating he seemed revitalised....so altho the HW division was stronger in 2002-2003 than it was during 2008-2013 EH was still a top 5 HW in 2003 (behind wlad, vitali , lennox, byrd)
