Tommy Hearns vs Roberto Duran

Hard to say how that fight would have transpired had Hearns not broken his hand but them again that fight was more a test of chins than anything else and that's not a test that Hearns is winning against Hagler. So broken hand, or not, l think the outcome would have been the same.

 

Hearns really had that go for broke style, which made no sense at times. I do think he could have stopped hagler, but not with one punch. I thought more 6th round TKO on cuts in the rematch.. Tommy sure became a brawler as he got older. Relying on his punch more and more.

 

I remember seeing this fight on NBC Sportsworld on Sunday afternoon? Surprised it wasn't on PPV or something it was huge but it was clear that Duran was overmatched. But come back he did this fight built up the Hagler/Hearns fight even bigger.

 

I remember reading in "The 4 Kings" that Steward had witnessed Duran bumping into Hearns a few years prior at a Vegas fight. Hearns had spotted Duran from far away and when Duran got to him he accidentally bumped into Hearns, who jokingly wouldn't budge and stared Duran down. Not knowing immediately who it was and pissed off and in disbelief that someone would disrespect him like that, Duran quickly looked up to see that it was Hearns. Duran had a stunned look in his eyes, like he just saw the devil. Hearns kept dogging him and Duran kinda smiled a nervous smile and shook Tommy's hand. Anyone else and Duran would've whacked them for not budging.

Hearns does have that evil look in his eyes. A true movie villain, the big eyes sunken deep. Steward remembered that night and I'm sure Duran did as well.

 

Even at 147 it is a difficult matchup for Durán. The 1980 version of Durán would certainly fare better against a 147lb Hearns, but he would still have a hard time getting inside. Hearns can keep him at a distance with his reach and boxing skills, and when Durán forces the issue to get inside, Hearns nails him, and Duran doesn’t have Haglers chin. At 154 Hearns is lean. He has 7 lbs more muscle whereas Durán just has more fat so the outcome is no surprise.

The only way Durán wins is at a much lighter weight. Let’s say 140 or 135. Hearns would have to lose muscle mass to make that weight, taking away his ability to land a powerful punch.

 

Actually Hearns beat Durán more handily than he did Cuevas.

 

I agree that he was the hardest puncher at that weight, but his ability to take a punch was suspect. Leonard was the first to show that, then Hagler, Barkley...
Duran just couldn’t get past the initial barrage from Hearns. He had no chance. Bigger guys could take Hearn’s shots and move in for the kill.

 

Besides the style I think it was a case of boxers going two different directions. Hearns was peaking at this time and Duran was already a good bit past it. Duran was coming off a great year in 1983. Beating Cuevas, Moore and giving Hagler a good fight. Duran had redeemed himself and went out and gained a ton of weight again. He deserved to get stretched.

My opinion Hearns probably beats him again but maybe not like that if Duran had trained better.

 

Duran has a big problem against Hearns. As he moved up in weight he became more of a defensive fighter, but he cannot afford to be defensive against Hearns because Tommy can just keep sending those guided missiles from a distance. Duran’s only chance is to rush him the way Hagler did, hoping that he doesn’t get KO’d on the way in.

 

What transpired at 4:25? It looked like Duran took a step back, something happened, then he and Tommy touched gloves - it almost looked like, "Hey, sorry", but I can't tell on who's behalf? I did appreciate, no matter the bad blood, they touched gloves at the outset and when the ref broke them ... nice reminders that sportsmanship isn't lost in the ring. Signs of true warriors, not thugs -

 

I agree.

Maybe at `47 when he brought the blazing intensity and aggression he could have a chance to beat Hearns. Duran stiil have some quickness as a Welterweight but lost much of it any farther north.

 

I am no sure about that. Duran hit him with a couple of right hands and a body shot.. I don't recall Cuevas hitting him clean or near at all. They were very similar fights. Hearns hitting Cuevas and Duran for 2 rounds and finally knocking them out. The fact people call those fight one punch knockouts is not correct. They were accumlations of clean punches landing.

 

No.

Hearns beat Cuevas and Moore because of style - they were easy to hit and he could take their shots. And they offered no lateral movement.

Hearns didn't even need to move. He overwhelmed Duran with height, reach and devastating one punch power.

Duran couldn't even reach him.

It had nothing to do with Duran fading and everything to do with Duran having massive physical disadvantages.

 

LOL Hagler was what an inch taller than Duran? Hearns never fought Moore bro