Did you feel that Duran was done at top level? Did you feel that Kirkland was a star in the making? Did you think that they were going to have a rematch? Your Thoughts???
Just a bad day at the office. An atg that just wasn't focused, and Laing wasn't a bad fighter either !
Leonard used sudden breaks in movement to confuse Duran in their 2nd match in contrast Laing`s movement wasn`t clever and often he just stood in front of Roberto, RD was not done at top level because he was so great against Davey Moore, Roberto was on great form also against Hagler it`s just that the reach of Hagler gave him the edge, that was Duran`s problem at the higher weights, his arms were just too short, Laing had a good reach advantage on him, Duran was at his best at the lighter weights, he was a small man and Laing was a naturally bigger man even though RD knocked down Barkley, Laing was much harder to hit than the come forward Barkley.
My thoughts are Laing was a superbly skilled boxer - and when he was focused and on his game, he was more than a handful for most of the Top 10 welters in the world at the time. Twice he was comfortably ahead of Colin Jones when unfortunately for him the relentless and hard hitting Jones caught up with him in the 9th. Unfortunately as well, Laing, as most of us know loved to party more than he loved boxing. God knows how long he partied for after the Duran fight, as I don't think he was seen for months! Anyway, against Duran, Laing for once was fully focused and trained well - and comfortably beat him - even if one judge was watching a different fight.
Duran at 154 and 160 only excelled against guys who were defensively deficient and came towards him. Moore Barkley Minchillo Robbie Sims (although Sims got the close decision). Benitez stood right in front of him as well. Laing had fast hands, reflexes and decent movement. Duran could have had more fire in the Laing fight but I am not confident the outcome would have been different.
I read that Don King came into Duran's dressing room and absolutely tore apart Duran and his handlers after this one. Must have been like a big balloon deflating for Duran and the people around him as that fight was going on. Wonder what the odds were?
I didn't find out about it until I read it in a boxing magazine a couple months later. (If you missed a fight, and the result wasn't in your paper, you really didn't have a way to find out who won until the new boxing magazines arrived). I just figured his career was over. He hadn't won a fight in a year. There was an article in Sports Illustrated around that time about how far Duran had fallen even in the eyes of Panamanians. I think he had Tax-Exempt status in his homeland for years (being a national symbol) ...and after the Leonard rematch, his country rescinded the privilege. He was kind of lost by the time of the Laing fight. That's why his comeback against Cuevas, Moore and Hagler was so shocking at the time. Before that, people were talking about Duran being a "name" Tony Ayala might add to his resume. He was being totally written off and labeled a has-been.
