The Myth that SRL changed his style and beat Duran

[BennyST]

Originally Posted by adamdoyle

I had leonard winning, people say Duran won and i understand why, before this they were used to seeing Ray have his way with fighters, nd then he was in a real life n death fight out of no were, but he landed more punches nd they hit as hard as each other, its just duran looks better coz its his element, im not a huge fan of either so i dont wanna hear about me being biased, truthfully i think Estaban Dejesus was better to watch than both

You're being biased. He missed more punches in that fight than in any other in his career, bar Benitez. He didn't win it, while not getting the decision because he didnt look his usual dominant self. He lost it because he had a lot if trouble hitting Duran cleanly, looked off balance during his flurries because of his defence and was out-thought and outfought.

I don't know what fight you were watching in which Leonard landed more and landed harder punches.

Leonard won the rematch because he landed more. He won the Hagler fight because he landed more, he won the Hearns fight because he landed more and landed harder and he won the Benitez fight because he landed more. He lost the Duran fight because he didn't land as much and missed most of his shots. Go watch it again. Perfect example being the supposedly big bolo punch that lifted Duran off his feet right? Wrong. It missed completely. if you see highlights or whatever, you often get the angle from the side which makes it look as though it lands. However, the other replay on the full version of the fight shows the punch from down at ringside and shows it completely miss.

A Leonard flurry doesn't automatically equal a five/six punch combination landed. He missed nearly every time he started throwing his usually landed flurries.

[The Noose]

Originally Posted by Scott9945

Duran was in pitiful condition for the rematch and he would have been vulnerable to inferior talents that night. This is common knowledge. Leonard was a ATG talent, but you seem to be a little too protective of his reputation.

I acknowledge Duran wasnt in great shape, yet i find it hard to say he was in pitiful condition, because he was up against an ATG Leonard at his best. Leonard in that mode would have made most fighters look terrible.
I honestly believe if Leonard was more static and lay on the ropes more, wanting an inside fight like in their first meeting, Duran would have looked much better, as that was his game.
I just think Duran quitting somewhat robbed Leonard of his moment.

And for the record, Duran is by far my favourite of the fab four, and probably in my top 3 fighters i love to watch. I think many people dont recognise how skilful he was.