Sugar Ray Robinson .Vs. Roberto Duran

The version of Duran we all saw in the return but was a mere shell of what he had been that night in Montreal, and the reasons for this are well documented and have been talked about ad infinitum so I won`t go over it again. Suffice to say that due to these reasons he couldn`t get inside and cut the ring off on Ray in the rematch although you acknowledge as much in your post.

Keep in mind mcvey that I am not picking Duran to win this fantasy matchup, I just said that it wouldn`t surprise me if he did win. I, like you, think Ray takes this but Duran presents enough problems for him to make me hesitate in declaring Ray an outright winner here as others have done... whoever wins this fight its gonna be a close one on the cards of that much I am certain.

 

:happy OUTSTANDING Post. :thumbsup

 

Like Mcvey said Robinsons more varied arsenal of punches would be key here especially the uppercut. Robinson had an amazing uppercut and this was one punch that leonard didnt seem to use nearly enough in Montreal. When Duran came in weaving Leonard would throw many hooking combinations and Duran would slip a lot of them. Robinson on the other hand would be timing uppercuts and his other money punch in this match up, that right hand to the body. I think those two punches would help him greatly against a smaller pressure fighter like Duran.

 

While I will go as far as to say the Duran of Montreal was as good as anyone Robinson ever fought, I'd still pick Ray to win. 147 was his natural weight, he was the bigger man and had speed and power over Duran at that weight.

 

One point i would like to make about robbie,is that the fullmer one punch ko is a little flattering...
Sure no one ever did this to gene,but i think it is a little like michael nunn knocking out the durable and never stopped kalambay out with one punch in the first round. (and no,im not equating nunn with robinson,or saying robinson is not a puncher.) It flatters to deceive.
I would ask how many one punch kos did robbie have in world title fights at welter and middle?
One poster made a point regarding could hearns knock out fullmer with one punch? Well,in my opinion yes he could. Hearn ruined the durable cuevas with one punch at welter,the super durable duran at 154 with one punch,the durable roldan with one punch at middle,and dropped the very durable andries at 175 with one punch. (i could also add his hurting the iron chinned hagler the most of any fighter,and koing guys at 175 and 190.) Conversely,could robinson ko duran with one shot,or ko durable guys at 175? I think not...
Hearns does not flatter to deceive in any way,and for one shot punches much harder than robinson.
If robinson regularly knocked out very durable guys (like say louis or hearns.) then i would say he was in that league regarding power,but it seems like people are not objective with robbie and give him a free pass because of the fullmer ko. Many fighters went the distance with robinson during his peak at welter,he may have been a great finisher,puncher and composite puncher,but lets not put him in the very top joe louis/hearns bracket quite yet.....

 

The difference being that Fullmer was a rock chinned BIG MIDDLEWEIGHT,only stopped twice once in his last fight against Tiger ,o.n a corner retirement ,and ONCE BY ONE PUNCH KO COURTESY OF RAY.Fullmer beat punchers like Fernadez ,but Robbie kod him and Robinson was 36 at the time.In 173 winning fights,Robinson scored 108 kos,but he doesnt have power like Hearns?

 

Ray Robinson may not have had the one punch early round right hand ko poer that Hearns had but Ray was a better KO puncher with two hands at any point in a fight. Ray Robinson was up there with Sam Langford as greatest punchers that ever lived.

 

"Robinson could knock you out with a punch ,while he was going backwards,his hands look like they go off automatically".Floyd Patterson.

 

WW for WW, I'd consider the difference negligible... but we know that Hearns carried that power higher and for a longer period of time....

 

Hearns last ko over a rated Middleweight was over Roldan when Tommy was 29,,Robinson kod the Middleweight Champion Fullmer when he was 36.So I beg to differ.

 

I'm talking about power at an advanced age against larger guys. Hearns carried that power "longer" against "bigger". Whether the opponents were ranked or not has nothing to do with the power they carried on. Hearns stopped a champion in Andries at light heavyweight in the fight before Roldan. He KOd a CW in Lapaglia when he was 36. He was still stopping guys in the 170s and 180s well into his 40s.

 

So wether they were ranked or not is not a reflection on your power as long as you score kos? Was Lamar Clark a world class puncher?Dennies Andries had no defence whatsoever you could not miss him with a shot,he would get insulted if you missed him,in fact after the Hearns fight he went to Steward at the Kronk Gym and asked to be taught how to box.Hearns "at an advanced age" was stopping nobodies,the last rated man he stopped was Roldan,another who charged in without a thought for defence.Who did hearns ko after the age of thirty who was anywhere near a world class fighter,let alone a reigning Champion?And with one shot.Paul Pender called Robinson the greatest puncher that ever lived,any say that about Hearns?

 

Laplagia was kod in 3 rds in the fight immediately before the Hearns one.