Is Roberto Duran overrated?

[yrrej]

Nope, he was a great fighter technically, very tough, and fought well at multiple weights in tough divisions. His only blemish, the "no mas" which had more to do with his lack of discipline than Leonard....

[TheEvilSaint]

leonard ruined duran. going into the 2nd leonard fight, duran was 72-1. after the 2nd leonard fight, duran went 31-15 in his next 46 fights. he retired in 2001 with a record of 103-16 with 70 KOs, not exactly an impressive record IMO.

the best guys he beat were sugar ray leonard, pipino cuevas, iran barkley, and jorge castro. the guys who beat him were leonard (twice), wilfred benitez, marvin hagler, castro, hector camacho (twice), william joppy, and thomas hearns in one of the most brutal KOs in history. pretty much losing to most of the best guys he ever fought.

he held titles in 4 weight classes.

thats all black and white.

IMO, prior to the first leonard fight, duran fought a bunch of pushovers and nobodies. after the 2nd leonard fight, the swarming, hard hitting, warrior roberto duran was no more. duran shouldve stayed at lightweight. he couldve had great fights with mancini, arguello, camacho, rosario, ramirez, JCC, chacon, and others. he was a lightweight in the 70s and the 80s and the 80s was a great time for the lighter weights, lightweight being one of them.

i do think duran is overrated, but he was an underachiever. he couldve been better if only he stayed at 135 for at least another 5 years.

[IwatchBoxing]

Probaly is, whoever said he was a real Lightweight?

[oldgringo]

leonard ruined duran. going into the 2nd leonard fight, duran was 72-1. after the 2nd leonard fight, duran went 31-15 in his next 46 fights. he retired in 2001 with a record of 103-16 with 70 KOs, not exactly an impressive record IMO.

the best guys he beat were sugar ray leonard, pipino cuevas, iran barkley, and jorge castro. the guys who beat him were leonard (twice), wilfred benitez, marvin hagler, castro, hector camacho (twice), william joppy, and thomas hearns in one of the most brutal KOs in history. pretty much losing to most of the best guys he ever fought.

he held titles in 4 weight classes.

thats all black and white.

IMO, prior to the first leonard fight, duran fought a bunch of pushovers and nobodies. after the 2nd leonard fight, the swarming, hard hitting, warrior roberto duran was no more. duran shouldve stayed at lightweight. he couldve had great fights with mancini, arguello, camacho, rosario, ramirez, JCC, chacon, and others. he was a lightweight in the 70s and the 80s and the 80s was a great time for the lighter weights, lightweight being one of them.

i do think duran is overrated, but he was an underachiever. he couldve been better if only he stayed at 135 for at least another 5 years.

Funny how you conveniently mention Joppy among detractions on his record. 103-16 (70) not impressive? Holy **** you must think Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles have pretty unimpressive records too huh?

Ken Buchanan and Esteban DeJesus are nobodies allofasudden? Say WHAT???

I understand thta this is your opinion and all, but holy **** it's tough to read this considering Duran pretty much cleaned out 135. He stays at 135 and he'd probably be knocked for that...people would say he was afraid to move up and fight bigger guys.

the swarming, hard hitting, warrior roberto duran was no more

Iran Barkley fight showcased everything you just mentioned here. And what is he supposed to do anyway? Go to war with guys that are MUCH naturally larger than himself? I think that using his boxing skills panned out better for him against guys like Hagler.

[TheEvilSaint]

Funny how you conveniently mention Joppy among detractions on his record. 103-16 (70) not impressive? Holy **** you must think Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles have pretty unimpressive records too huh?

Ken Buchanan and Esteban DeJesus are nobodies allofasudden? Say WHAT???

I understand thta this is your opinion and all, but holy **** it's tough to read this considering Duran pretty much cleaned out 135. He stays at 135 and he'd probably be knocked for that...people would say he was afraid to move up and fight bigger guys.



Iran Barkley fight showcased everything you just mentioned here. And what is he supposed to do anyway? Go to war with guys that are MUCH naturally larger than himself? I think that using his boxing skills panned out better for him against guys like Hagler.

ezzard charles and archie moore fought in an era where fighting four times a year would be considered being "inactive". they would sometimes fight twice a month. moore had 221 fights in 28 years. charles had 115 in 19 years. duran had 119 in 33 years. needless to say, charles and moore were vastly more active than duran. comparing this era to past eras, the past was much more impressive.

the duran in the barkley fight wasnt the swarmer of old.

if i gave the impression that joppy is great, i didnt mean that.

even if buchanan and jesus were added, his list of losses still outweighs his list of victories, in terms of opposition.