Which fight is better? Duran/Leonard 1 or Leonard/Hearns 1?

Leonard-Hearns I - that was the fight that first really hooked me on boxing, and I will always have a soft spot for it. It is to this day one of my favorite all time fights - a classic.

 

Leonard-Hearns is interesting because of how few clean punches were actually landed. Great tactical battle, though. Leonard-Duran was better.

 

Yep. The stuff real heroes are made of. :happy

 

Both awesome fights. I go with the Hearns fight for the drama. The Duran fight was Duran all the way.

 

I can't believe I'm doing this but I'm actually gonna agree with the Zakman here. This was the fight that got me hooked on boxing too. I was listening to it on BBC Radio with Harry Carpenter commentating and I can still remember him describing Tommy as a 'stick insect' and 'beanpole' as he was making his way to the ring. Watched it many times since of course.

BTW watched Milion Dollar Baby last night and one of the few good things about it was one of the characters saying he wanted to challenge the Motor City Cobra, Thomas 'Hitman' Hearns. Also, Hilary Swank's character fought for the WBA World Welterweight Championship. Seems like one of the writers was a big Tommy Hearns fan. :good

 

I go with Leonard vs Duran

 

I like Duran/Leonard 1 because both are very complete fighters. It was obvious it would go 15.

Hearn's fragility was on display and when he was forced to move and box, it was apparent Leonard would eventually catch up to him.

 

Leonard/Hearns 1. It had more suspense, shifts of momentum, change in tactics by both fighters. Duran had control of the fight in Montreal.

 

Duran Leonard for me

 

They are so different. One is a clash, the other is a tactical situation which changed and kept changing. It is hard to compare for me. One of my favorite fights is McCallum vs. Curry which to me was a lot like Hearns vs. Leonard. Tactical. Finding openings and momentum

 

Duran / Leonard 1 : Ferocity and Skill and non stop greatness. This is a fight you can watch over and over again and still learn new things from. I have to say this is the better of the two.

Hearns / Leonard : Great because of the drama, tactics, and legendary ending.

 

Leonard was one of the best welterweights of all time. I was never a Leonard fan but the guy had everything: chin, will to win, ferocity, skill, and power. Duran was arguably the best lightweight of all time and for this fight he was incredibly conditioned and motivated similarly to how Frazier was for Ali I. I agree with your assessment of this fight. It was non-stop skill and ferocity. Extremely competitive and fought on the highest level.

 

Leonard VS Duran.

Both legendary bouts.

 

Two of the greatest fights of the 70's-80's. I wish I was old enough to have enjoyed the build up around those fights. It's hard too be exicted by Canelo v Fielding, Canelo v Rolls, Crawford v tomato can etc and I know fighters back then took keep busy fights but Hearns v SRL v Duran is the gold standard. SRL v Hearns both undefeated, SRL v Duran 1 loss between them. Amazing action in these fights. It scarcely matters which fight you favour. We'd all crawl over hot coals and broken glass to see this in 2019. My preference is SRL v Duran but it's hardly objective. I love Duran more than Leonard for no reason at all and for Hands of Stone to step up in weight and start the mind games from the time the fight was announced till after the last bell was epic. Duran needed to defeat SRL mentally before the fight otherwise Leonard may have just stayed on the outside and 1-2ed his way to a safe-ish UD. Not to diminish SRL's coming from behind to stop the Motor City Cobra, that was amazing as well. Both of these fights elevated all three fighters and rightfully so.