The reason Roberto Duran Quit

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I'm not the biggest Leonard fan but you have to give him some credit for the win. If Duran wasn't in shape for the fight whose fault is that? Leonards? Duran was a professional boxer...It's his job to make sure he's in shape. This was one of the most anticipated rematches in boxing history. Duran had to know this. Plus Ray did fight a different fight than the one he fought in Montreal. Stick and move not go toe to toe with Duran. That plus Duran's poor preparation spelled disaster. Ray got into Roberto's head this time and I think Duran knew it wasn't to be his night. So instead of staying and taking an official loss he did what he thought was the macho thing to do and said the hell with it...I'm outta here which I'm sure he immediately regretted (and still does). I was rooting for Duran that night and was beside myself when he quit. It was an impetuous, immature and stupid thing to do. Plain and simple.

 

I honestly think the biggest reason Duran quit is because he felt secure in the outcome, and the result. He was losing( The scorecards were close, but I myself have never found more then 2 rounds to give Duran in the rematch), the fire was not there, the momentum was not there, and he was, that night, the lesser fighter.

Rather than get schooled and humiliated like a chump, and Leonards antics would have only escalated, making Duran look worse, and going out to headlines that would completely reverse the first fight (LEONARD EASILY SCHOOLS DURAN), he quit.

Roberto clearly thought, and had great reason to think, that a rematch would immediately follow. He gave Ray one, after all. He would take this fight seriously, beat Ray, and go up 2-1 on him. He thought the smart AND macho thing was to quit while he was ahead, and could still make excuses.

Of course, Ray then pursued bigger things, Duran's image was damage by his quit job, and when he got his rematch, neither fighter was very relevant, and he himself was schooled. I guarantee Duran envisioned a VERY different outcome when he said "no mas", and I think that is logical.