The Myth About Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran

It’s one of about ten excuses. Not sure where it ranks on the list.

 

Didnt Leonard admitted that he knew that Duran was partying drinking and eating like an animal and had blown up in weight and he told his handlers to try and make the rematch as soon as possible cause he tought Duran wouldnt be at his best. I heard Leonard saying this somewhere ill try to find it with that said its not Leonards fault if Duran wasnt prepared its his job he should have been prepared . Leonard won and deserves credit for it .

 

Exactly, that's Duran's problem for getting out of shape but fans will do anything to defend their idols

 

This.

 

Yep.
https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/duran-leonard-rematch-timeline.616387/page-5#post-20510746

 

Hes my fav fighter ever but i try to be objective and he has no one to blame but himself.

 

I have grudging admiration for Leonard's intelligence inside and outside of the ring. He sowed the seeds of victory against Hagler and Duran II before the bell for round one rang.

 

Yup. Always thought Leonard was a sneaky ******* but at the end of the day SRL, got the job done in the ring in both cases. Like AL Davis said, "Just win baby".

 

It wasn't the duration, it was the level of partying and lack of training. Duran had been a pro for 12 years, had come up the hard way and was becoming jaded. Ray was three years in and was being manicured for success, not that he didn't have the goods, just that he was in a different place in regards to motivation.

Duran was Hall of Famer when he stepped inside the ring at Montreal.

 

Two things.

First, very good timeline.

Second, some thoughts. I don't think postfight statements should be disregarded, even though they're often lies. Reason being, prefight hype is also often a pack of lies. Fighters aren't going to claim to be out of condition before the bell. By contrast, they'll whine about their poor condition after they lose

As to Leonard...

Leonard's postfight claims to have hoaxed Duran into defeat may reflect what he'd actually planned to do. It's not the kind of thing you'd admit ahead of time. So we wouldn't expect contemporaneous reports. And it takes as much credit away from Leonard as it gives him. He's admitting that he had to beat a guy by trickery who'd beaten him fair and square. So it may accurately record Leonard's calculations. But that doesn't mean Leonard's calculations were correct. It's always possible that he believed Duran would balloon up...and was wrong.

That said --

What's most convincing about your timeline is how it relies on multiple sources, including public workouts, that consistently say similar things before and after the fight.

 

The truth is in there. It's a nonsense myth that persists off the back of so many unreliable sources and interviews to soften the blow to Duran's failure.

 

He loses credit for it imo. Its on par with AJ beating Ruiz, Whyte beating Povetkin or Holyfield beating Douglas compared to Tyson.
Circumstances matter and being a snake to catch someone one a low to add a win isnt impressive.

At least not as impressive as when they are both in shape and at their best.
Is hopkins win over Roy Jones deserving of credit?
What about Wlad if he had fought a coked up fat Fury and won shortly in 2016. Would that be a great win?

Duran lost more than that SRL won.
SRL also had his Canelo scorecards favour him vs Hearns and Hagler.
All smoke and mirrors with that guy.

 

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.ne...MZKBdvuF2D4qtHtpAs74h8FYF3BcI6uKQ&oe=62787929

Everyone knew it was true.