Duran vs Barkley should be studied for its mastery

[them_apples]

Sometimes you have to put aside resumes or age or whatever evaluations/excuses you're into and just look at the fight itself.

Duran redeemed himself against Barkley and that made it a special night.

How great Barkely was or wasn't doesn't matter.

Even what Duran was before, no longer mattered.

It was one last great fight by an ATG, try to embrace the moment not bend over backwards trying to discredit it.

Yeah the fact is Duran wasn't supposed to win. In his book he talks about his psychology in the dressing room. He was basically a retired boxer, a father at this point. Barkley was being touted as a gang****er thug - he was much bigger than Duran. All of Duran friends were scared for him. Duran said he just kept telling himself he was great over and over again in the dressing room and to remember who he was.

[Tatabanya]

Sometimes you have to put aside resumes or age or whatever evaluations/excuses you're into and just look at the fight itself.

Duran redeemed himself against Barkley and that made it a special night.

How great Barkely was or wasn't doesn't matter.

Even what Duran was before, no longer mattered.

It was one last great fight by an ATG, try to embrace the moment not bend over backwards trying to discredit it.

Completely agree with you.

Some people would discredit an old soulful bluesman just because his guitar technique is worse than Edward Van Halen's.

[GhostofDempsey]

Yeah the fact is Duran wasn't supposed to win. In his book he talks about his psychology in the dressing room. He was basically a retired boxer, a father at this point. Barkley was being touted as a gang****er thug - he was much bigger than Duran. All of Duran friends were scared for him. Duran said he just kept telling himself he was great over and over again in the dressing room and to remember who he was.

If I recall correctly, Duran was the betting underdog in this fight. I think Nunn was suppose to fight Barkley but it fell through, he ended up fighting Barkley after Duran beat him.

[mrbig1]

No doubt someone will start a thread saying Duran is overrated.

[GhostofDempsey]

Yeah he beat a passed it Tommy Hearn’s twice, nice one. Who else did he beat? What’s his next best win? Darren Van Horn?

And the second fight with Hearns was an either way fight aswell.

Jeff Horn beat Manny Pacquaio. Zahir Raheem beat Erik Morales. Larry Donald beat Evander Holyfield. Leon Spinks beat Muhammad Ali. Are these any better than average fighters?

Iran Barkley was an average fighter, AT BEST. Outside of a passed it Hearns he lost to every single half decent fighter he fought.

Hearns was only 30 years old when they fought, and only 2 years older than Barkley. Iran had 4 losses when he beat Hearns. Hearns was the MW champion when they fought. Oddly enough, Leonard fans like to give him credit for his win over LaLonde the year before he went life and death with Hearns. If Hearns was so washed up I guess that tarnishes Leonard's win over LaLonde. See how this works? We can play this game of dissecting resumes, but style match ups come into play, and Barkley's style matched well against some ATG fighters like Duran, Hearns and Toney.

I'm guessing you're a **** Tiger fan. If ever there was an inconsistent fighter it was Tiger. Despite his 19 losses in 82 fights (often to lesser fighters and fringe contenders) no one calls him average.

[IronDanHamza]

Hearns was only 30 years old when they fought, and only 2 years older than Barkley. Iran had 4 losses when he beat Hearns. Hearns was the MW champion when they fought. Oddly enough, Leonard fans like to give him credit for his win over LaLonde the year before he went life and death with Hearns. If Hearns was so washed up I guess that tarnishes Leonard's win over LaLonde. See how this works? We can play this game of dissecting resumes, but style match ups come into play, and Barkley's style matched well against some ATG fighters like Duran, Hearns and Toney.

I'm guessing you're a **** Tiger fan. If ever there was an inconsistent fighter it was Tiger. Despite his 19 losses in 82 fights (often to lesser fighters and fringe contenders) no one calls him average.

And your point is what?

Hearns could have been 20, he was well passed his prime for both fights and he arguably won the second one.

Regardless, beating one fighter doesn’t mean anything like the other examples I listed. That doesn’t change the fact he’s an average fighter, at best.

**** Tiger holds multiple wins over great fighters, HOF fighters across multiple weight classes. That’s why no one calls him average.

Iran Barkley is average because he lost to every half decent fighter he fought and outside of a passed it Tommy Hearns his best win is Darren Van Horn.

What an absolutely ridiculous comparison.

[IronDanHamza]

Sometimes you have to put aside resumes or age or whatever evaluations/excuses you're into and just look at the fight itself.

Duran redeemed himself against Barkley and that made it a special night.

How great Barkely was or wasn't doesn't matter.

Even what Duran was before, no longer mattered.

It was one last great fight by an ATG, try to embrace the moment not bend over backwards trying to discredit it.

I’m not discrediting it. It’s a good win due to the fact he was old and small.

But let’s not act like Barkley was anything but average because he was.

[GhostofDempsey]

And your point is what?

Hearns could have been 20, he was well passed his prime for both fights and he arguably won the second one.

Regardless, beating one fighter doesn’t mean anything like the other examples I listed. That doesn’t change the fact he’s an average fighter, at best.

**** Tiger holds multiple wins over great fighters, HOF fighters across multiple weight classes. That’s why no one calls him average.

Iran Barkley is average because he lost to every half decent fighter he fought and outside of a passed it Tommy Hearns his best win is Darren Van Horn.

What an absolutely ridiculous comparison.

**** Tiger also lost to much lesser opponents than Barkley. Giardello and Fullmer were both washed up when Tiger fought them, they retired soon or immediately after. Which great fighter did Tiger beat in their prime or at their best?

[IronDanHamza]

**** Tiger also lost to much lesser opponents than Barkley. Giardello and Fullmer were both washed up when Tiger fought them, they retired soon or immediately after. Which great fighter did Tiger beat in their prime or at their best?

**** Tiger beat Joey Giradello in 1959 mate, Giardello retired in 1967. That is 8 years later so you seem unsure of what the word “ Immediately “ means.

Gene Fullmers last run of fights going into his trilogy with **** Tiger;

Basilio W
Spider Webb W
Giardello D
Basilio W
Robinson D
Robinson W
Fernandez W
Kid Paret W

Not a bad run is it and he was clearly not shot. I never said Fullmer was in his prime. Does that sound washed up to you?

HOF fighters that **** Tiger beat in their prime;

Joey Giardello
Nino Benvenuti
Jose Torres x2

Now how many did Barkley beat? Oh yeah, Zero.

Go one further, how many Top 10 ranked fighters did Iran Barkley beat? Do you know?

How many do you think **** Tiger beat in comparison?

You are totally clueless mate.

The fact you actually just tried to compare **** Tiger and Iran Barkley is flat out embarrassing.

[mrbig1]

No one is calling Barkley great. He was a big MW with a good punch. You would think he could beat a big fat lightweight. Most MWs could unless that lightweight is Roberto Duran. This is not how bad Barkley was but rather how great Duran was. Duran is a top 10 all time P4P great.