Ray Leonard, The Thread.

Oh ffs...it was meant to be, damn phone autocorrected Crowcroft to Crawford.

 

I believe Duran would beat him more times than not, if he had his head on straight and not backwards like in the second fight.
Maybe party a little, drink and eat a little less.

And SRR.

That's about it.

 

LEONARD: (reflecting on his two wins with Duran in 1980 in Montreal and New Orleans) “As an American out of the Olympics, I was the hero. Duran pretty much the villain. But I was subjected to an ******* (Duran), and it was a lesson that made me a better fighter. He insulted me, my wife (Juanita), he gave me the finger. When I got into the ring (June 20, 1980) I wanted to beat him at his own game, meaning to out macho him. It ruined my game plan in a close fight. Down in New Orleans, it was a different fight. I had his mind, but someday I’d like to know why he quit in the eighth round. Maybe Duran doesn’t know himself.”

 

No. I can tell you Ray beats him almost everytime after that. Ray has a better track record against great fighters. Ray had 3 wins over Benitez, Hearns and Hagler. Duran had 3 losses. This means everything and the ease to which Ray won the rematch and rubber match, which now is ignored but at the time Duran just beat Barkley and Leonard struggled with Hearns in the rematch.

 

Prime Roberto beats Leonards ass easily every time. Montreal was 11 rds to 4. This is after Durans prime of 7 yrs ruling the lightweights against excellent comp and72 fights. Pernell is just green w envy and can never get over that head to head, initial fight, his boy got his ass kicked. Leonard never could handle fast guys. Duran, Hearns, Norris, Camacho all found Leonard easy. Duran had destroyed a lot of guys favorite fighters up thru Leo 1 and his fans aganize over it ever since. But you cant change history.

 

Leonard wouldn't beat a single fighter on that list.

 

That is one load of bravo sierra, this myth has been regurgitated so long people take it as fact. Leonard came into that fight as the bigger ,younger, thought to be faster and stronger fighter. Leonard's team thought the smaller lightweight would fold under that kind of fighter, Ray had Angelo Dundee is his corner and not once, once! did he tell Ray he was fighting the wrong fight during 15 rounds. In one of the first interviews after his loss , Ray was asked why he didn't move to his right away from Duran's right hand like he had planned. He said I couldn't, Roberto cut the ring off. As Morelocks pointed out and was mentioned during the fight Durans lightweight quickness really bothered Leonard .Leonard came up with this B.S. explanation after the press became critical of him. Then the pro Olympic hero press sucked it up , well,,,,Ray could have won the first fight he just fought wrong.

 

Who do you think made up all those excuses for Ali over the years? Angelo.

Like how he would have beaten Frazier without the layoff. It was very concise and organized.

 

Hall of fame post Rein! I will no longer argue about this fight (I hope). I will just talk about it assuming everyone has eyes and sees Duran beat his ass. It was total dominance by a master. There are lots of Duran jealous fans out there who get upset that they cant shake the beliefs of the Duran nation of fanatics. We NEVER gave up on Roberto or doubted his greatness.
Of the fab 4 (long live The Beatles yeah yeah yeah..) Only Duran is mentioned when discussing the greatest fighter ever. I dont even like Roberto being included with the other three anyway, because it sounds like they came up together. They didn't! Duran was already considered an all time great and pd for pd the best when Leo and Hearns turned pro and was champion during the entire first 8 yrs of Marvins first 8 yrs.
What Duran did at lightweight was greater than what all 3 did in their careers. Duran haters like Pernel (the name explains everything by the way) hate that.
So from now on I will just ass u me people saw Roberto kick Rays ass and talk about a great fight and masterful performane in which Duran really showed everything. Raining here in Ohio. 6:21 in the morning.

 

Good point regarding the FAB 4. The most famous fights are all in the 80s. People have it burned into their brains Duran running hot and cold

It would be like if you only saw Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the 1980s. He would still be one of the best, a HOFer. If you consider he dominated the 1970s before that you have what we refer to as The GOAT