Armstrong's defense on the inside was tremendous. If Duran wins, it's because he's a bit more versatile and box better on the outside. In close, Armstrong's ability to control an opponent and work angles for his shots is every bit as good as Duran's.
I don't think his defense on the inside was tremendous at all. It was MUCH better then he defense on the outside, which was tantamount to nothing and just basically swinging wildly to get inside. That said, even on the inside he got hit quite a bit, more so than Duran did, which is the point I'm making. You aren't going to win a fight where you can't win on the outside and take shots coming in, and get hit cleanly on the inside against a fighter like Duran. I'm not saying Duran lands at will, I'm saying Duran defense on the inside seemed to take less clean shots than Hank did, not that Hank's defense on the inside was terrible.
Well, given that he fought exclusively on the front foot, Armstrong was bound to get hit; but the amount of times he got hit clean even coming in was a lot less than you'd think for someone with his style. Ross, who was a terrific boxer with a great left jab, couldn't land a whole lot on the smaller Armstrong coming in. In close, Armstrong ducked and weaved under the vast majority of his opponent's incoming and continually positioned his opponent with his head in such a way where he limited their punching range in tight (Arizmendi and Ross fights as proof). Duran was also really good at making guys miss, yeah...But he still got clipped in close from time to time, too. Against someone with Armstrong's workrate and strength on the inside, I think he fights more on the backfoot than in close in order to bank the rounds. For the record, I pick Duran by UD because of his versatility, but if it's fought exclusively in the trenches, I feel that result could change.
Good post, and I agree with much of what you say here. If it's fought exclusively in the trenches, that could make for an interesting fight and Hank chances go up. I just think it would be fought at multiple ranges at times, and that is why Duran wins more times than not. The reason I mention him coming in and getting inside, isn't so much that this isn't his best shot, it's his best shot, my issue is, with someone like Duran's power at LW... I'm just not seeing it end well constantly walking into Duran. Guess that's me.
Armstrong was definitely a very skilled fighter in his own aggressive way. If he wasn't he wouldn't have such an insane record. He's no face first brawler.
this fight was a "what if" fight in ring Magazine.....cant remember the exact issue, but i think it was in 1991. and i remember one of the three "experts" Picking armstrong, saying: "he would ko duran with a good shot to the jaw in round 5"
Both are roughly equal at infighting (Armstrong might barely be better) but Duran's superior outside fighting will likely win him this one. Although, I can't see much outfighting happening! It's equally as likely that Armstrong will win, I can't see anything but a close fight happening.
His Fists. They called him Homicide Hank for a reason. Duran got knocked down by De Jesus and outboxed by Viruet. Nuff said. Armstrong was beating up 147 pounders and challenging guys at 160 weighing well below the limit, he's a different kind of cat. Duran was a homo-sapien in an era of apes. In reality he would've struggled with the Lightweights of the older eras. Benny Leonard, Joe Gans, Canzoneri, Lou Ambers, Kid Lavigne, Barney Ross, Ike Williams all woulda given him trouble or beaten him. Different calibre of fighters.
So we're just going to ignore how Duran also climbed to welterweight, beat Sugar Ray Leonard (one of the greatest wins in welterweight history), gave Hagler a war at 160, beat Barkley as an old man? Getting knocked down by De Jesus and outboxed by Viruet doesn't take away from the fact that Duran is as much of a beast as Armstrong, there is no reason to discredit Roberto. Using your logic; since Davey Day gave Armstrong a boxing lesson when they fought before he was knocked out, and Fritzie Zivic managed to stop Armstrong, then Duran would destroy Armstrong. It's unfair to let these define Armstrong, the same way it's unfair to let your references define Duran. This fight will be a war, no matter what.
Viruet didn't outbox Duran - he ran his ass off and, despite this, got caught up with by Duran, time and again!
Yeah right, a shorter smaller fighter is going walk straight into Roberto Duran, Homicide Hank? Well Roberto has a nickname too,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, " "Hands of Stone"
Henry Armstrong climbed up from 126 to 147 in one fight and beat an all-time great in Barney Ross (who I would rank over Ray Leonard) and he gave Ross one of the worst beatings in boxing history - so bad he had to retire. The only feat that you can compare to that is Fitzsimmons moving from Middleweight and knocking James Corbett out at heavyweight but that happened before there was a LHW division. That far surpasses Duran beating Leonard IMO when you consider the fact that he moved up 2 weight classes in one fight. Duran had taken fights at Welterweight prior to fighting Leonard so its clearly not the same thing. You are bringing up a fight from when he was just outside of his prime (In any case, Zivic was a very good fighter, the losses started to pile up later in his career). The Davey Day fight was his 3rd title defense in 1 month (Armstrong once defended his title 5 times in one month.). To put Armstrong into context Floyd Mayweather calls himself TBE because he moved up from 130 to 154 (24lbs) in his entire career, Armstrong moved up 21lbs in ONE fight and didn't even have to put on any weight - he then fought for the MW title and got robbed blind. Just to be clear it is not my intention to slag Duran off, he's one of my top 10 favourites, but Armstrong is simply the greater fighter, and in my opinion would've broken him.
