Vintage 147 Montreal Duran vs. PBF. Who and how?

Its a mistake just to look at a fighters age. Its about his ring miles. How many fights did he have? Who did he fight? What kind of fights? What kind of life did he live outside the ring?


Thats one weakness Duran had was that he like to party and he took it too far. Gained alot of weight and he got away with it while he was younger but like anything else it cathes up to you eventually.

 

I see Floyd racing out to a 3 or 4 round lead only to get stopped late by Duran's pressure or he loses the 12 or 15 round decision.

 

Going into that first fight Ray Leonard didnt realize how much trouble he was going to have hitting Duran with anything clean. SRL had the fastest hands in the sport. He thought he would be able to pepper Duran but he only caught air with most of his punches. One of the great defensive displays of alltime.

Duran fought with great intensity throughout the 1970s. It peaked with the first Sugar Ray Leonard fight. Ray was the Golden Boy of boxing and when Duran beat him he had climbed the mountain.

He never looked quite like the same fighter again even in some of his wins that followed.

 

The incomparable Leonard lost to Duran, but the VERY MUCH LESS skilled and much less gifted Mayweather somehow beats the Duran of Montreal? Did anybody here watch the welter greats of the late 1970s and early '80s live, at the time? Mayweather certainly isn't in their class, and all his wins over inferior talents whom he is favorited by 6-1 or 8-1 going in will never change that.

Duran, likely by KO, within 10. And if Floyd goes to hold him the way he held De La Hoya (who in my view beat Floyd), Duran gives him an elbow to the cheekbone or a thumb deep in the eye socket.

The scary part for Floyd is when he gets back to his corner and has punchdrunk Roger there to give him advice, or maybe his crackhead father, Senior. Roger merely calling Duran a "mother****er" won't be quite the advice Floyd will need . . .

 

Ray was on his second title defense of his first title when he fought Duran. When he fought him the second time he boxed, regardless of people saying he got Duran to fight as early as possible, he would have beaten Duran regardless with his different mindset. Fact is his foot work was totally different and he was not going to fight Duran at all--just box. He did the same thing with Hagler in 1987, yet with a little modification. Duran is greater than Floyd because of his lightweight reign and the fact he had the guts to fight all the legends of the 1980s. And he did beat a legend Cuevas who was very much diminished when he fought him. That was actually at the Olympic Auditorium back in Los Angeles if I remember correctly back in 1983. But stylewise Floyd might be a problem just because of Ray in the rematch and Benitez outboxing him and Hearns outpunching him. Hearns didn't overpower Duran as much as outspeed him and landing those right hands, how many could Duran take. My point is not about Floyd being greater, it is about the style of Floyd with speed and not letting Duran have his fight and give Duran his sweet spot, which was getting in range and fighting his fight. Hearns was all wrong for him because he never would be in Duran's range, and he was faster, so everything was landed on the outside where Duran could not do much to defend against, although to Duran's credit, he did land a few punches, but nothing to hurt Tommy with.