Roberto Duran .Vs. Thomas Hearns 1980

It might go longer but the result is still the same for me.

Hearns via stoppage, by round 6.

 

Great avatar Doppelganger. :blurp:blurp

 

Agreed.

Duran would smoke Wlad.

But no, Hearns would always beat Duran.

 

Either the Cobra by late KO or Duran by narrow decision.

 

It's so hard to judge this one. Duran was simply awesome in 1980, but Hearns is a stylistic nightmare for him, and I think the most likely outcome is a mid rounds Hearns TKO.

Given that Hearns is undoubtedly the heaviest hitting Welter ever, and a top 5 all time welter, it's testament to Duran that people feel he could possibly push him despite being 2 weights above his optimum

 

Thomas would still win, but probably around the eighth to ninth round.Too much skill and size for Roberto to overcome.

 

If he hasn't already, mag will come on here and shut this thread down.

Even in 72 a teenage boy lightweight version of hearns obliterates duran, hearns proved it in 84 against peak duran at his peak weight.

 

This is the match I believe Duran should have made after Hearns-Cuevas, not New Orleans. On high alert, with the realization that he was fighting for his life, there's no way he drinks and parties his way into this WW unification match. Plus, Tommy, at just 21 years of age, didn't yet have the experience and stamina El Cholo had just displayed in Montreal. Roberto would have had a huge competitive edge at this point in time. Hearns, not Duran, would have been more likely to come in overconfident. We saw how SRL was able to buckle Tommy's body at 147, and Ray himself came out of Montreal with a severely bruised torso.

Hearns wasn't ready yet. This would have been the last time we saw Roberto in Montreal condition and motivation, and the Panamanian would make it pay off by slipping inside and belaboring the body en route to a late stoppage win.

 

Hearns just straight up had his number, it's styles yo

 

Awesome post Duo, a pleasant surprise (not in quality, but prediction).

There aren't five welterweights I'd favor over Duran at his 147 best (which kind of begs the question as to where he could rate, especially considering he beat Palomino and SRL).

 

Straight up, i'd bet on hearns against any ww in history over 12 rounds bar robinson. I think his chin is a myth, especially at ww.

Even greats like gavilan, napoles, armstrong, ryan etc at best I give them all a punchers chance and that alone isn't enough for me to pick them over tommy.

I think even ray robinson i'd only give a punchers chance, but i'm sure he finds that punch, just as he did so many times in his career.

As duo says, the best time for duran is right after tommy beat cuevas and maybe just maybe roberto outlasts him but to be honest it's a big maybe and I can't see tommy being behind on points at any stage; the guy was a physical freak and a technical marvel. It's just unfortunate he was in the same era as two of the greatest divisional fighters in history. If he'd have come 5 years earlier or 5 years later people might just be talking about him as a top 5 ww.

As it is we can only judge what happened and the night he destroyed cuevas, I believe he was the best ww in the world even if he wasn't quite as mature as he needed to be to fight in the era he fought in.

 

TRUTHyep

I've been saying it for years:bbb

 

Their fight in reality was not close at all, Duran would not win. If the fight was of a close nature then you could make the case for a prime Duran, but we're talking a one sided annihilation in two rounds being the only empirical evidence at hand. Hearns by knockout.

 

Hearns is Duran's kryptonite.

Duran is not going to overcome the huge physical gap in order to reach a stoppage, and no way he is going to outbox Tommy to reach a decision.

As already mentioned, a prime Duran only last a little longer and makes his defeat a little less abject

 

There would always be too good of a long jab, too much reach and too much speed for Duran to overcome. Before Duran get's hurt Hearns is owning him with the jab and counters. Now Duran would be a bit quicker but I can't see it making much of a difference, Hearns would boss him again and would always have the power to KO Duran.

Hearns isn't Leonard, he's bigger, a better jab and doesn't make some of the same technical mistakes