leonard duran 2

[rightsideup]

would roberto lasted the distance if he chose to fight on?
what is your take on the ending of the fight as so much has been written about it?

[SBleeder]

Duran would have gone the full 15 and could have managed a win. It would have been close either way. I had Duran slightly ahead at the time he quit.

IMO Duran decided that refusing to be clowned by Leonard showed more character than continuing. I've always believed that Duran probably regretted quitting immediately after doing so.

One thing is for sure: One night in New Orleans doesn't negate the fact that Duran is one of the toughest men to ever step foot in a ring.

[Panamaniac]

would roberto lasted the distance if he chose to fight on?
what is your take on the ending of the fight as so much has been written about it?

Not only could Duran have gone the distance, he had a puncher's chance of turning the fight around as he did against Barkley. I won't go into all the pre-fight circumstances that led to the premature conclusion, suffice it to say that Duran chose to concede the fight and deny Leonard the glory of a more decisive victory; he chose to lose the fight on his terms, curtail Leonard's mockery and break the tie some other day.

No disrespect toward Leonard, but a look at the bigger picture reveals that despite the shame of that night, it is Duran, not Leonard that struts among the (P4P) 10 greatest fighters of all time; it's Duran, not Leonard that is a legend, instead of just an ATG. In fact, Leonard himself has conceded that much. Were it not for the "no mas" debacle, Duran could've ranked within the top 3.

That concludes my take.

[wpink1]

Duran would have gone the full 15 and could have managed a win. It would have been close either way. I had Duran slightly ahead at the time he quit.

IMO Duran decided that refusing to be clowned by Leonard showed more character than continuing. I've always believed that Duran probably regretted quitting immediately after doing so.

One thing is for sure: One night in New Orleans doesn't negate the fact that Duran is one of the toughest men to ever step foot in a ring.

If you had duran ahead then you dont know how to score boxing. Leoanrd up 5-2 and he won rounds 7 and was winning round eight easy and landing more solid shots. sitting down on his punches a bit more.

[wpink1]

Not only could Duran have gone the distance, he had a puncher's chance of turning the fight around as he did against Barkley. I won't go into all the pre-fight circumstances that led to the premature conclusion, suffice it to say that Duran chose to concede the fight and deny Leonard the glory of a more decisive victory; he chose to lose the fight on his terms, curtail Leonard's mockery and break the tie some other day.

No disrespect toward Leonard, but a look at the bigger picture reveals that despite the shame of that night, it is Duran, not Leonard that struts among the (P4P) 10 greatest fighters of all time; it's Duran, not Leonard that is a legend, instead of just an ATG. In fact, Leonard himself has conceded that much. Were it not for the "no mas" debacle, Duran could've ranked within the top 3.

That concludes my take.

Leoanrd is not a Legend... are you a crack head. Rank durans biggest wins vs leopards..... Case closed.

[StarshipTrooper]

If you had duran ahead then you dont know how to score boxing. Leoanrd up 5-2 and he won rounds 7 and was winning round eight easy and landing more solid shots. sitting down on his punches a bit more.

Two judges had it 4-2-1 and the other had it 4-3 though. In a 15 round fight that's not a big gap at all. Remember, judges back then favored fighters who are seen to be the aggressor and were inclined to punish clowning and running in their scores.

Poet

[The Noose]

I felt he was feeling Rays punches, and quit because he was being clowned and embarrassed by Leonard.
Difficult to imagine Ray stopping Duran, but i believe Duran was weakening.

[JK1700]

Duran was just in terrible shape that night, I have read and heard a lot about just how bad shape he was in, so i'm not convinced that he would have lasted the distance. If Ray had turned up the heat, he probably would have been able to get him out of there. As for the ending, I think it is talked about too much. I don't blame Duran as much as I blame the people around him. They should have given him more time to prepare, instead they took the first offer they got for a rematch which forced him to lose a ton of weight in just a couple of months. The damage that fight did to his reputation was not worth the extra few million they got for giving Ray an immediate rematch. I think it's sad that a truly great fighter like him gets criticised for "No Mas" all the time, yet today you see people who go into fights and don't even try to win (Shane Mosley, David Haye) and people who quit not once but several times (Victor Ortiz). I don't know why, maybe it's the image that they portray and the way they quit in comparison, but for some reason they seem to get a pass while Duran doesn't.

[SBleeder]

]Were it not for the "no mas" debacle, Duran could've ranked within the top 3.

Why do you give so much significance to that one fight?

[them_apples]

SRL barely did anything either, see no reason for him to be "way ahead". Duran is one of the greatest fighters of all time, for me Duran at his best from135-147 is dammnn near unbeatable. Even at WW.