This is worth nine and a half minutes of your time

Good action ,thanks ,shame about that rap **** music.Duran and Ike ,that would have been a fight!

 

That was definitely worth 9 and a half minutes of my life.

 

Accurate like a Duran right to the head.

Roberto Duran is to me the greatest Latino fighter ever and probably one of the top three pound-for-pound pugilists of all time. What a career of conquering higher and higher weight divisions, past his best, against larger-framed titlists, no gimmicks involved -just the primal instinct of pure savagery honed by perfectly-mastered, sparkling technique.

 

lol-the Bizarro clips are there in all its glory.

Nice compilation. Still remember when he overwhelmed Buchanan to win the title-nobody did THAT to the Scot. Nobody-Buchanan had wonderful balance, a great jab, & worked the middle of the ring as well as anybody I've seen through the years. T'was nullified by Duran. Although I haven't seen much as I would like of him, nobody pressured Ernesto Marcel that way either.

The idea that "boxers" troubled Duran simply isn't true. He became a bit more "technical" as the years progressed, becoming less "aggressive" if you will.

Anybody remember when Duran was called Rocky?

 

Pure genius. Without a doubt the best p4p of the fab four,and my pick as the greatest p4p of all times.

 

I agree although I think it a safer bet to put him in the top 5, p4p, atg. He is without a doubt the greatest of the Latino fighters and that is no small statement. If he is in another 30 years at the rate they're going, I'd be shocked. Thank God for the Latinos -they're carrying the sport.

Duran's record is spotty at best after his testosterone diminished, but those wins in the 80s against large opposition really do much in terms of legacy. I see no other natural LW in the history of man who could have beaten a 24 year old Ray Leonard, who could have made such a surprising challenge against Marvin Hagler like he did in '83, who could have taken a MW title at age 37 against Barkley, and who could have been fighting young MWs and SMWs in his late 40s. You just don't do this unless you have an obscene amount of skill. All this after he already fought about 70 times. These are reasons why I go absolutely ballistic when posters leave him out of the top 10 ever. It's idiotic -people's "right to their opinion" be damned!

Now let's be honest -the savage in him, the anarchist he was underneath -also screwed him in New Orleans. He had the foresight of a possum crossing a highway and trained like Jabba the Hut. I honestly believe that he quit because he knew he wasn't going to win and saw the spectre of a TKO looming -he stupidly figured he'd "get Ray the next time" because Ray would be obligated to give him a quick return match just like he gave Ray one. How naive. Ray was the Bill Clinton of the boxing ring.

Duran was a passion fighter, he had Dempsey's ferocity, with stugotz about the size of Mickey Walker's and longevity that reminds one of Archie Moore himself. But passion isn't constant -especially after you begin to age. Duran's greatness was pivoted on that passion, and when he was on he even looked different -he had fire in his eyes and seemed to gnash his teeth like something primal.

When he was off he was just a little bearded guy with some skill.

 

Good stuff here!

I remember Duran being called "Rocky" although it wasn't because of his brief and amusing appearance in Rocky II making a fool out of Stallone -I believe it was because some thought him reminiscent of Rocky Graziano due to his vaunted right cross.

 

Thanks for your passionate description. I know I go out on a limb saying he is in the top 3 pound-for-pound of all time, but, as you well describe, it is hard to name 3 other all-time greats with a better record ("legacy") of achievement; consistency I agree is not Roberto's middle name.

You rightly mention his diminishing testosterone and passion, but, more than that, the man was simply no longer in his prime, and fighting larger men, after some 70 pro fights. I think it's pretty safe to say if his plane disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle en route to Montreal and he never fought again, his amazing performances as a lightweight would be enough to place him in the pound-for-pound top ten.

 

Great stuff. Thanks for posting. one of my all time favorites.

 

A spectacular lightweight.

The same people who only view him as the weak link in the fab four era are the same people are that are unaware he went 72-1 at lightweight. That's two careers by todays standard. What a fighter.

 

I don't remember the exact reason, but Duran certainly was Rocky before the "Hands of Stone" moniker.

I actually wish Ken Buchanan would deserve his due a bit more-too many fans simply dismiss him due to Duran. But this was DooooRan.

 

Yea it's too bad really, the same thing can be said about de Jesus.

 

Haha. Buchanan is remembered well in this corner of the world at least. He gets high praise on this forum by many. Duran's defeat of him was a shocker. The kid was 21.