Why did Duran quit in the rematch against Leonard?

Not Leonard's fault Duran didn't prepare right

The second fight was over 4 months after the first fight

For comparison Frankie Randall had to fight JC Chavez a little over 3 months after his monumental upset of Chavez.

He trained like a professional and performed just as well as the first fight.

The combination of Leonard changing his strategy and Duran not training properly led to Leonard easily outboxing Duran and somewhat embarrassing Duran. But by quitting Duran suffered much greater embarrassment than if he had fought to the end



.

 

Excellent post.

Personally it probably keeps Duran put of the top 10 for me. It's just such an awful black stain on his character in the ring - and you show very well why, with the background of how Duran acted before the first one. To act like that and then rather quit then take your come-upance... I can't come to think of anything even close as bad.

 

It’s funny how people say Leonard was clowning Duran in the ring with the bolo punch but leave out that it was payback for Duran doing something similar to Ray late in the first right.

We reap what we sow.

 

Brilliant post, JT1.

I will qualify that Ray and Angelo both talked about Ray being the bigger man, who would look to dominate the smaller, older fighter. In Montreal, however, Ray found Duran to be an excellently skilled, well adjusted for the weight fighter. Perhaps, Duran's crass behaviour somewhat made him stand and trade after it became evident that he shouldn't, but, I have always thought that Ray fought the only fight he could fight that night as once Duran found him with that big right, and then started feinting, timing him and making him miss and pay, Ray had to show his cajones or get drowned.

Getting Duran back in the ring in an out of shape state was brilliant strategy and one that Ray Robinson had indeed used before him. Some argue that it's a demonstration of Leonard's gamesmanship and politricks. Meh, professional elite fighters, fighting for THE title in sport's cruelest arena - the minimum is professionalism outside the ring so that you can put your best foot forward. I take it with a pinch of salt. .

I don't think Duran quit out of being behind on cards or embarrassment. I think he realised that Ray had the upperhand and that Roberto was out of shape and unable to catch him; unable to get him to stand still and fight a fight that he thought he could win. In the heat of rush of blood to the head, he probably thinks I don't need this ish, I will train hard and beat him in the rubbermatch and prove to be the better fighter. He underestimated the boxing world's reaction to his act and ultimately put himself in a position where he has a black mark that his apologists have to scramble to defend - combined with the Hearns sparkout, I've certainly seen people argue Roberto's inability to champion the best of the very best. However, I would always temper it by his excellent LW reign, then remind that in his showings versus Palomino and Leonard, in his masterclass of lasting the distance with Hagler, making Marvin apprehensive at a time that he was cleaning every title challenger's clock, in his fights with Moore and Barkley, Duran showed us elite skills, p4p kudos and a longevity that he had no right to do so.

Leonard's mocking of Duran in ring was probably on par with Duran's snarling smiling face and shoving him after the bell in Montreal when Leonard raised his hand. Anyone holding it against Leonard for winding up bolos, meh - "Chat ISH get banged!"

 

Cant believe were rehashing this again

 

Your opnion, but obviously you're one in that group Imentioned. How did Leonard "rig" the fight?

 

Duran stuck his chin out, tapped it mockingly with his right glove then landed a sucker punch jab, bouncing away with a grin on his face.

Leonard just gave him back some of his own cheekiness with the fake bolo-jab in the rematch.

If you wanna play, you gotta get in the sandbox.

 

There are some fables, that he ate some tainted Chicken Soup. That some evil old lady related to Esteban De Jesus put an evil spell on him. There were a lot of those stories following that fight. I think that it boiled down to the fact that he did not train as in their first encounter on June 20 1980, Roberto Duran did not have the fire burning inside. Sugar Ray Leonard did, he had a lot to prove. he beat Duran by utterly frustrating him with his speed , clearly a strength against Duran, even in his lightweight days.

 

Thanks guys and you all make great points as well.

 

Not the "Duran was out of shape" myth again.

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/duran-leonard-rematch-timeline.616387/

 

Welcome baaaaackkkk!

 

Duran weighted 358 when he started camp and was 227 two days before the weigh-in.

 

This is pretty much it.

 

How could they strip Duran? they just had one fight. A champion only has to defend against the mandatory challenger once a year or every six months, I would have called their bluff.

 

This is a good post. It is a combination of things. One of the things that was irritating over the years was the easy journalistic hook that Duran was a bully and a coward Leonard stood up to him. Ofcourse that was bought by mostly American fans who can't think past a headline.

Duran had to sweat down and lose weight, that is a fact, diuretics, injections, not good for a fighter. With that said, Roberto Duran was a professional, a champion, he was experienced, I know he had gotten away with losing a busload of weight in camp more than a few times. Like Jake LaMotta it caught up to him. My point is it was Duran’s fault. His camp, his team had to take responsibility for it.
Did he deserve death threats and jail? No. Did he deserve to have his purse held? They tried to but No he didn't deserve that because he took punches, a few from Leonard. Ray Ariel was the only member of Duran's camp to appear at the hearing the next day. Why "because he was my fighter when he arrived here and was my fighter when he got in the ring, he's my fighter until he gets on the plane". Ray always had class.

As far as Leonard he's been on many documentaries admitting, bragging, explaining that he knew Duran's habits and took advantage of them. A matter of fact at this point and his apologists don't need to fluff up his legacy any more than it already is. I can give him credit for being intelligent in and out of the ring. They fought June 20th, the rematch wasn't signed June 21st as Leonard fan needs to perceive.

Its just a different mindset from Leonard than we expect from champions. Most great fighters as RL unquestionably was want to beat a rival at their best. That wasn't Ray's getdown. As he went on to show with Hagler and later Hearns.

Ray Leonard won the fight fair and square but if Duran was a coward or just a bully why did he go the distance in the 3rd fight at 38? Why did he come out for the second round with Hearns? A coward would have showed his colors about then.

I'm sure Ray's limp wristed posse will be slashing my tires and egging my house after reading this. Just how I see it. Realistically.