The Brawl in Montreal - who would defeat Duran on that night?

Duran the naturally smaller fighter, past his prime, coming DOWN from 160 to fight Tommy at his absolute best at 154 is different, way, way different scenerio than a greener, less experienced, less developed Tommy at 147 where the best version of Duran was a combination of Basilio, Armstrong, Gavilan, and LaMotta at their primes with a right strong enough to ko Tommy as well. Nobody beats Montreal Duran not at WW they don't. You never see Duran cut the ring off after Montreal ever again. He was never in shape after Montreal either and if your an unbiased fan you should know that. You could see his love handles by then vibrate with each punch. Jiggle jiggle and jiggle some more.

 

Nope, except maybe SNV.

 

I agree. Duran back in 1980 was very, VERY verastile. Great defense, stamina, guts, grit, power, chin etc. And about Thomas Hearns, Duran would have to get in the late rounds which will be hard for Roberto, and I will give Tommy a good chance to KO him anytime in the fight, especially early on, but once he gets in rounds 12 through 15, he will swarm all over the Hitman. Tommy fought at a great pace, but it would cost him late in the fight.

 

Ray Leonard would have beat him if he fought him as a boxer ...

 

Great point. Duran had some ups and downs after Montreal but the truth is he never fought even close to that level after. The perpetual motion and the workrate were just not there. He once applied so much physical and mental pressure on his opponents.

 

He was never going to do that in a first time matchup. He was the bigger, younger man, and he was typically a boxer-puncher, not a cutie. He'd just crushed Boy Green far more quickly and impressively than Palomino had. His power was well established by Montreal. [He decked Benitez with a jab.]

Duran scored a flash knockdown on Carlos, but he didn't stun Palomino the way he staggered SRL early on. Ray had to experience that while Roberto was capable of hurting him, the reverse was not true. [And even in their third bout, Duran drew blood late.]

 

Duran was as pumped up, lean and mean as I ever saw him in Montreal. However the bout did end up as a relative close one. Duran's margin of victory was two points. It's very possible that if SRL had boxed from round one on as he did in fight two that he could have outpointed Roberto.

 

Sugar Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, Harry Greb, and possibly Charley Burley.

 

This is a bit laughable. Do you honestly think the dynamics of boxing work like that? Where only one person does something different and the other is static. Nope. To me, everytime a fighter fights he's a slightly different fighter. And I believe that in many cases a fighter who won one fight, might no win a rematch. Maybe in the first fight he landed a punch the other fighter didn't see, doesn't mean it's going to happen again. Take Lewis for example, look at the difference between his first fights with McCall and Rahman compared to the rematches. Now I firmly believe, more than most that the results are the results and at the end of the day that's all that matters, but you can't watch this video and think that the rematch featured the best version of Duran. You'd really have to hate the guy to come to that conclusion. But that said, Leonard won that fight, and that's what counts.

 

Did it ever occur to some that it's due to the style Duran fought? Look at Frazier, Dempsey, Marciano, and Tyson, they were all washed up at a relatively early age. Why? because that seek and destroy type of style takes so much energy and timing that it just doesn't lend age all that well. The fact Duran could adapt from that style and win a title at aged 37 is amazing.

 

Don't have time to go through this thread, but Tommy Hearns would have knocked out Montreal Duran.

 

What are you talking about ? He easily could have and won the fight but Duran got in his head .. he boxed against Hearns. He boxed against Hagler. To be a boxer does not mean your a cutie ...