De Jesus and Buchanan were the best, imo. I voted De Jesus, but next to nothing to chose between him and Ken.
Well I believe Buchanan is not included because the question is who was Duran's toughest opponent whilst he was champion. He was the challenger when he faced Buchanan.
I honestly believe Lou Bizzaro gave him his hardest fight. Bizzaro ran from New York all the way to New Jersey in that fight, Duran was visibly frustrated and looked terrible for a large portion of the fight even though he was winning the rounds due to Bizzaro doing basically nothing. He even got knocked down twice even though it wasn't ruled as such. The knockout was obviously terrifying but I don't think a prime Duran ever looked so amateurish.
De Jesus is the obvious one, apart from owning a clear win over Duran before the title challenge, he decked Roberto early on and was competitive for a while, before being worn down with mechanical precision. Still, he wasn't 100% for the fight, and Gregorio Benitez wanted the fight re-arranged due to Esto's dad dying of cancer, so his training camp was interrupted and he was struggling to retain focus.* Add the fact that he's fighting a Duran out for revenge, with home advantage and all 3 judges being from Panama, it's was almost an impossible task. Still, despite this, I'm going to go for Ray Lampkin, whose use of the ring was very impressive his title challenge, whether from long or mid range and he would even trade at times with those fast hands- and even worked the body really well. Excellent performance from Ray, although gradually worn down again by a master but quite close on the scorecards for me at the time of the KO in the 14th (although not officially, as all 3 judges were from....yep, Panama again). Chilling finish from Duran to end it, mind- a really good fight this one. * Just to let anyone know that Duran didn't have exclusivity rights on the bad training camp and request for fight delays.
For what it's worth, this was my score on Duran-Lampkin and what I wrote: Roberto Duran v Ray Lampkin Round 1: 10-9 Duran Round 2: 10-9 Lampkin Round 3: 10-9 Lampkin Round 4: 10-10 Even Round 5: 10-9 Duran (2 minute round??) Round 6: 10-9 Duran Round 7: 10-9 Lampkin Round 8: 10-9 Lampkin Round 9: 10-9 Duran Round 10: 10-10 Even Round 11: 10-9 Duran Round 12: 10-9 Lampkin Round 13: 10-10 Even Round 14: Duran KOs Lampkin Total through 13 completed rounds: 125-125 Even (actual scores: 129-124, 129-124 and 128-122 all for Duran) We all remember the dark quote from Duran after the bout. "If I was in shape I would have sent him.....", we know the rest. But what is key was always that part of not being in shape. And it is evident from the 6th round on. Duran is exhausted and never got a second wind. In fact he showed more energy post fight jumping around the ring in joy. As well he should because Lampkin took this seriously. Duran had the heavier hands but Lampkin had the faster, the sharper and he was as scrappy as hell. Even the KO can't really be held up as anything amazing other than the effect because Lampkin walked onto it and hitting his head on the canvas didn't help matters. Rounds 11, 12 and 13 became really sloppy with both exhausted by this time. It should be noted that the officials scoring this bout were all from Panama and their scores do not reflect what actually took place in that ring. I had it all square after 13 and a quick check of this thread shows 3 more of our posters scored this. Natonic and Philly had it 125-123 and 124-123 respectively for Duran while GPater had it 125-122 for Lampkin. These are far more realistic scores.
Great post mate, enjoyed reading that and good to see a few of us were aligned in our scoring. I can't remember my card when I scored it (sometime in the 1990s i imagine) but I know i had it close. Of course, the heat played its part in sapping the strength of both of them, so there were some sloppy rounds- but overall a good scrap and great to see Ray getting some cred for his role in it. On the KO, when I spoke of 'chilling', I was referring more to the aftermath and Ray being unconscious for a worryingly long time.
Godammit - I missed that key detail. Excellent point and apologies to the OP. Changing my vote to Lou Bizarro. EDIT: That was a joke but I’ve seen someone else has actually voted for him! Esteban it is…
I would have to say that Lightning Ray Lampkin and Esteban De Jesus were pretty stiff challengers for Roberto Duran as World Lightweight Champion, June 26 1972-Feb 1979, 12 title defenses. The Lampkin title bout was televised on ABC's Wide World Of Sports on March 2 1975, Lampkin displayed good hand speed, good counterpunching skills but in exchanges in close took a beating from Duran, especially the right hand to the heart, that caused Lampkin to slow down as the later rounds approached. Duran in round 14 connected with a hard left to the body, and connected with a blistering right hand that caused Lampkin to hit the canvas with a thud, causing his head to strike the canvas. Duran later remarked when asked about Lampkin : I Was Not In The Best Shape, If We Fight Again, Lampkin Would Be going To The Morgue Next Time and Not The Hospital. Esteban De Jesus was the other tough challenger during Duran's reign as Lightweight Champion. On Nov 17 1972 during a non title bout in Madison Square Garden, De Jesus decked Duran in round 1 and went on to score a unanimous 10 round decision over Duran, handing him his first pro loss. On March 16 1974 in Panama City, Panama, Duran was decked in round 1 but went on to score an 11th round TKO of De Jesus in the sweltering heat of Panama. On Jan 21 1978, Duran stopped WBC Champion Esteban De Jesus in the 12 th round to unify the World Lightweight Title, Duran boxed beautifully, counterpunching De Jesus until the stoppage in their 15 round bout.
