Could Roberto Duran have beaten Tommy Hearns in a rematch?

[joseph5620]

if he showed up prepared he certainly has a chance. Obviously Hearns is the betting favorite, but people too readily write Duran off. He got caught early and never recovered, but even amongst that he actually stiffens Hearns up with a right hand. If he came out more cautious and the fight went a bit later, he certainly has a chance because Hearns defense isn't very good. No excuses here, but everyone knows Duran didn't even train for that fight. He was fresh off a SD loss to Hagler when Hagler was stopping everyone. Duran thought he was invincible.

I do think the odds are against him though, but Duran was an ATG fighter. you can never count him out.

What evidence do you have that Duran was not prepared or didn't train for Hearns? I didn't see any indication of that. If he didn't train how did he make the weight?


Duran always has the built in excuse of not training for the fights that he lost. Maybe in some fights with lower caliber opponents that was the case. But I'm not buying it for this fight. Or the Benitez fight either. I seriously doubt Duran wouldn't train for Hearns.

Hearns dominated Duran so easily that there is nothing that indicates a rematch would have been different. Too tall, fast, powerful.

[Slugfester]

Well, it is all speculation in this thread. Jab, where are you?

[QueensburyRules]

Hahaha apparently you don’t know a whole lot about duran’s career to say that he would lose 10 out of 10 He beat the crap out of Barkley. Hearns could not beat him how many times ? . It all depends on what kind of mental state and preparation Duran has he’s the greatest fighter of all time, and he took this very lightly and he paid for it.

- - True enough back in the day. Obvious Tommy is favored, but Duran at 154 was struggling to find his mojo after No Mas.

Turns out middle and above was his sweet spot where he didn't have to lose so much weight.

[QueensburyRules]

What evidence do you have that Duran was not prepared or didn't train for Hearns? I didn't see any indication of that. If he didn't train how did he make the weight?


Duran always has the built in excuse of not training for the fights that he lost. Maybe in some fights with lower caliber opponents that was the case. But I'm not buying it for this fight. Or the Benitez fight either. I seriously doubt Duran wouldn't train for Hearns.

Hearns dominated Duran so easily that there is nothing that indicates a rematch would have been different. Too tall, fast, powerful.

- - Guy on Cyber Boxing Zone had some inside info that Duran may have thrown the fight.

I don't think so. Duran just didn't have any fire for this fight for whatever the reason.

[GhostofDempsey]

The fight didn't last long enough to determine if he could have done better in a rematch. I will say it probably didn't help that he went from MW to Jr. MW after the Hagler fight, then back to MW after the Hearns loss. Duran looked flat and sluggish, and was getting manhandled in the first round and up to the KO. Hearns was much taller, had the reach of a HW, and faster. A rematch may have been more competitive if fought at 160, but I still think Hearns would win, he just had Duran's number. Duran did come back to beat Barkley who had already beaten Hearns the year prior, so anything is possible.

[them_apples]

What evidence do you have that Duran was not prepared or didn't train for Hearns? I didn't see any indication of that. If he didn't train how did he make the weight?


Duran always has the built in excuse of not training for the fights that he lost. Maybe in some fights with lower caliber opponents that was the case. But I'm not buying it for this fight. Or the Benitez fight either. I seriously doubt Duran wouldn't train for Hearns.

Hearns dominated Duran so easily that there is nothing that indicates a rematch would have been different. Too tall, fast, powerful.

In his book, his trainers state he had not trained even for a week and thought it should have been illegal for him to step in the ring. When they asked Duran what he thought about the fight afterwards, he said “I met 2 cuban lesbians at a night club in new york and thought I was gonna have a threesome - then they got into a fight with eachother. I was thinking about that when Hearns hit me�

[User Name HERE]

Hearns banishes Duran to the shadow realm in 2 rds, Barkley Destroys Hearns in 3 rds, then Duran outboxes Barkley to win his middle title. It's the Ali, Frazer, Foreman thing all over again. Rock-paper-scissors.

[joseph5620]

In his book, his trainers state he had not trained even for a week and thought it should have been illegal for him to step in the ring. When they asked Duran what he thought about the fight afterwards, he said âI met 2 cuban lesbians at a night club in new york and thought I was gonna have a threesome - then they got into a fight with eachother. I was thinking about that when Hearns hit meâ

Trained less than a week? Yeah I'm calling Bullshlt on that.

[4truth]

I don't think so. Tommy controlled that considerable distance too well. Tommy was throwing bombs and Duran was doing nothing but trying to play D. I don't think being in better shape was going to help him bridge the gap.

[Willie Pep 229]

"Harold is that most dangerous of animals, clever sheep."