SegaDreamscape wrote:Thierry Henry wrote:
Oh man, don't get me started on Duran!
I caught his fights on the downside of his career (he was a little before my time) but I watched the tapes of his earlier fights and I've come away thinking that this guy has got to be the best lightweight (135 pounder) that I've ever seen.
Just an awesome mixture of power, guile, underrated defense and a chin made of concrete!
As a welterweight he had that great night where he beat Leonard in Montreal, and later on the Davey Moore massacre and probably also the Barkley fight, but his best days were always at 135.
Wow, just imagine let's say Duran was in his prime today and also with the likes of Julio Cesar Chavez and the Pac Man! Those type of match-ups would be like a boxing fans version of a wet dream!
I know what you mean, I idolise the man, I wish id been there to see him go toe to toe with Hearns, Leonard and Hagler. Even though he was a a hardass in the ring and a legend he still at times took a beating, just look at his knockout by The Hitman (It actually hurts when i watch that
). Thats when you see a great fighter. I hate listening to fighters talk about being unbeaten, being undisputed it gets old after a while. The reason why Duran, Pacquiao, Eubank and Barrera are some of my all time faves are that they've been down. All too often now a fighter gets knocked out and he's not the same but every once and a while you get a Pacquiao who just keeps getting better.
On a side note 'Hands of Stone' Roberto Durans biography is one the best boxing books i've ever read, if you've never read it you should.
Yeah when I saw that KO that Hearns planted on him I was stunned that he actually came back from that and even won a portion of the middleweight title 5 years later!
We have to remember though that Hearns was probably at his very best at 154. That I think was his prime weight even though he was also world class at welterweight.
Regarding Duran, the astounding thing to always keep in mind was that he was quite a short guy, so when he was fighting fully fledged middleweights he was giving away a lot of height and reach, and plus the fact that he was fighting them whilst they were in their primes and he was on the other side of 30. I mean he was so good that he took the most fearsome middleweight at the time (Hagler) the full distance of 15 rounds, at a time when Marvelous Marvin was laying everybody else out cold.
Yeah 'Manos de Piedra' was truly a remarkable fighter.
My dad actually saw Duran live when he took on Pipino Cuevas back in '83. He was on a business trip in California at the time and was fortunate enough to get tickets to the fight.
Here in South Africa we were aware of Cuevas reputation and his punching prowess because a few years earlier he had fought one of our own- Harold Volbrecht.
I think Duran laid out Cuevas in the 4th. Another remarkable effort.
You also mention the book on Duran- 'Hands of Stone'. No I've not read that but I'll definately now make a point of it to try and find me a copy. Looking forward to that.
"There are three kinds of suns in Missouri: Sunshines, sunflowers, and sons-of-bitches"
).
