Sugar Ray Leonard

[Wales]

Duran-Khan? Duran was a fast starter and a great finisher. Khan's chin is questionable, of course, but I think Duran's quick, vicious body shots would have done Khan in the first three rounds. Khan would have been totally winded.

Are we talking about Amir Khan here, or is there another Khan Im overlooking. Either that or you're mistaking the word "Rounds" for "Seconds" ??

[teddy007]

Not every single fight can be a big one, Teddy, even for superfighters. Duran would have a big fight, several weeks off, then a couple of warm-ups to help lose the weight he would have piled on and to help regain the sharpness, then another big fight.
That's how it worked with him.

Comparing Duran to Khan, by the way, is a bit like comparing Mork to Mindy. "Nanu nanu..."

It was a hypothetical question, nothing serious.

[bigjack]

bennie, did you ever see Leonard box live? If so, how good did he look? His legacy certainly stands up.

I have, twice first time against Donny Lalonde and then against Tommy Hearns in their rematch, he is my second favourite fighter of all time.He signed his autograph for me and i watched him train for an hour in an open session in vegas.

[alexpaterson]

He was a great fighter the best speaker at the shows ive been to was Alan Minter he was a nice guy bet SRL is a top guy just get that feeling D

[bigjack]

Duran-Khan? Duran was a fast starter and a great finisher. Khan's chin is questionable, of course, but I think Duran's quick, vicious body shots would have done Khan in the first three rounds. Khan would have been totally winded.

Are we talking about Amir Khan here, or is there another Khan Im overlooking. Either that or you're mistaking the word "Rounds" for "Seconds" ??

Duran would have beat Khan at the weigh-in

[bennie]

Duran-Khan? Duran was a fast starter and a great finisher. Khan's chin is questionable, of course, but I think Duran's quick, vicious body shots would have done Khan in the first three rounds. Khan would have been totally winded.

Are we talking about Amir Khan here, or is there another Khan Im overlooking. Either that or you're mistaking the word "Rounds" for "Seconds" ??

Duran would have beat Khan at the weigh-in

Yes, Duran would have beaten Khan at the first press conference. He was the ultimate pro but he knew how to intimidate and push and shove. and those Charles Manson eyes would have scared even Shah.

[Colesy]

Duran's challengers at lightweight didn't even come to win (Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin apart, who both paid the price of a knockout). They came to survive.


"In March of 1973, Roberto Duran, Lightweight Champion of the World, came to Los Angeles to fight Mexican champ Javiar Ayala in a ten round non-title fight. The match was on the same card with the WBC Lightweight Championship bout between title holder Rudolfo Gonzales and challenger Ruben Navarro.

Navarro and I were stablemates and would often spar together. However, for this match Ruben had a group of sparring partners whose styles were more like Gonzales than mine. Two years previous, Ruben came close to upsetting then lightweight champ Ken Buchanan but lost a close decision. This would be another opportunity to win a version of the world title and he was taking no chances.

One day I arrived at the Main Street Gym shortly after Duran and Navarro had completed their workouts. I talked to Ruben in the dressing room as I laced up my boxing shoes. That day, Navarro had sparred with Duran and he seemed a little different than usual.

"This guy hits harder than anybody", Navarro said. "He hit me high on the forehead with a spent jab and it shook me all the way down my back to my toes". I had known Ruben for quite a few years and never heard him express respect for another fighter as he was Duran. It was almost as if he was intimidated, not in a cowardly sense, but in a way that caught me off guard. Navarro had fought and beaten some of the best lightweights and Jr. lightweights in the world during his career, so I had to believe what he was saying.

A few days later, I was in the gym at the same time as Duran and it was fascinating watching him train. He skipped rope like nobody I'd ever seen, including the great Sugar Ray Robinson. Duran could do things with a jump rope that made for quite a show. However, the most entertaining of all (aside from his sparring) was watching Roberto hit the speed bag with his head. I don't mean just banging it back and forth, Duran could make the bag dance with his head as well as most boxers do with their hands.

However, watching Duran spar was the real show. In fact, Duran didn't just spar, he fought all out regardless of who he was in the ring with and it was common for a sparring partner to hit the canvas and be out cold. When Roberto would launch a body attack he'd fire vicious shots that would land with a thud. He'd let out a "yelp" as the punch was delivered. The high pitched noise coming from Duran's mouth would punctuate each blow and had an eerie effect. I was impressed, to say the least, and privately thought to myself, "Glad I'm a featherweight and won't have to fight this guy".

Little did I know that my manager had been talking with Duran's trainer, Freddie Brown, and had agreed to let me spar with Duran. It wasn't something I had a great desire to do, but a fighter doesn't show his feelings so when I got the news I just acted like it was no big deal. I was told that the only reason I'd be working with the larger Duran was for speed. I had fast hands and would provide quickness for Duran. Brown had assured my manager, Johnny Flores, that Duran would work lightly and not cut down on me.

Somebody must have forgot to tell Roberto the plan and about midway thru the opening round I found myself sitting on the canvas. I got up quickly and was OK but it occurred to me that I might be fighting for life. When the sparring resumed I understood what Navarro had meant when describing Duran's power. It was awesome, and even punches that most would consider average shots had something I'd never felt before. It was like being hit with baseball bat. Duran had 16 ounce training gloves on that looked to be padded, but it didn't feel like they were. This was before Roberto had been tagged "Manos de Piedra" or "Hands of Stone" in English. I can personally verify that this is more than just a nick name, it's a fact!

Duran is a guy who considers the ring his personal domain and anybody who stepped in with him was treated as if they were caught breaking into his home. He'd establish this immediately with anybody who entered, including me.

After the three rounds of torture with Duran, I punched the heavy bag. The champ finished sparring with two other boxers, a lightweight and a welterweight who was beaten so badly he left the ring trembling. After Duran stepped out of the ring Freddie Brown untied the champs gloves and pulled them off. I was resting between rounds on the heavy bag and moved closer to Duran to get a look at his hands. There had to be something harder than a fist inside the gloves and I wanted to see what it was.

Brown glanced over at me and said something to Duran in Spanish and the two began to laugh. I asked Brown "What did you say to him"? Brown just looked at me with a smile and answered, "I told him you were looking for the horseshoe". I had to laugh, but honestly, that's exactly what I was doing. However, The only thing I found in Duran's gloves were his fists. Or as they would later be known, "Hands of Stone".

About a week later, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, my friend and stablemate Ruben Navarro was stopped by Rudolfo Gonzalez in his last attempt to win a world title. In the fight before the title match, the real lightweight king Roberto Duran floored and outscored Javiar Ayala savagely and won a unanimous ten round decision.

With the feel of those rock hard fists still fresh in my mind, I knew that Javiar Ayala discovered the same thing that Navarro and I had just days before. The horseshoe had nothing on "Hands of Stone"."

By Rick Farris.

Thanks for posting that, great read.

[fluxstuff]

Bennie,

Once again, thanks for that info. I ahve seen footage of durna's skipping, and I think Mayweather is the only person to come close to it.

Who would you tip in a Mayweather-Duran fight, out of interest?

The Duran who entered the first Leonard fight at 71-1, aged 29, was right in his prime and would have caught up with Mayweather.
At lightweight Duran would have also done him in the late rounds.

At LW, Duran catches Mayweather early and often. He was adept at both offence and underrated defensively. Plus, he was so quick to get to you that he's landing to the body and cutting off the ring. Mayweather isn't as rounded as Leonard (who fought Duran's fight first time round and still nearly beat him), so he'd probably keep moving, trying to throw combos and occasionally work in the pocket. Duran would be breaking him down, using his own movement to give Floyd angles and landing hard leads and counters.

Around round 7, Duran would take over and beat Mayweather up for a stoppage around round 9.

At WW... Floyd would take a beating. He's putting less behind his punches and he's taking longer to try and figure out his opponent. He might be able to box and potshot the first few rounds, using his footwork to keep Duran off, but eventually he starts to eat body shots. That said, it would probably go the full 12 as Floyd seems more comfortable in the pocket than at LW. He still loses handily by about 8-4.

Anyone who struggles with Castillo is getting beaten by Duran. End of story.

[Captain Hook]

Bennie,

Once again, thanks for that info. I ahve seen footage of durna's skipping, and I think Mayweather is the only person to come close to it.

Who would you tip in a Mayweather-Duran fight, out of interest?

Sonny Liston could skip a bit, for a big man. Every boxer should skip.

Night Train wasn't it?

.....intimidating sight.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Any man who can go toe to toe with Hagler at MW, would have torn Mayweather to pieces. Mayweather is far too defensive, and since moving up from lightweight, really doesn't throw many shots any more. Duran wouldn't have given him the time, space of breathing room to keep the fight at the pace he wanted, and eventually Mayweather would be forced to stand his ground, and that's where it would end.

[Gray-Fox]

Any man who can go toe to toe with Hagler at MW, would have torn Mayweather to pieces. Mayweather is far too defensive, and since moving up from lightweight, really doesn't throw many shots any more. Duran wouldn't have given him the time, space of breathing room to keep the fight at the pace he wanted, and eventually Mayweather would be forced to stand his ground, and that's where it would end.

this

[streak]

Bennie,

Once again, thanks for that info. I ahve seen footage of durna's skipping, and I think Mayweather is the only person to come close to it.

Who would you tip in a Mayweather-Duran fight, out of interest?

Sonny Liston could skip a bit, for a big man. Every boxer should skip.

Night Train wasn't it?

.....intimidating sight.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Any man who can go toe to toe with Hagler at MW, would have torn Mayweather to pieces. Mayweather is far too defensive, and since moving up from lightweight, really doesn't throw many shots any more. Duran wouldn't have given him the time, space of breathing room to keep the fight at the pace he wanted, and eventually Mayweather would be forced to stand his ground, and that's where it would end.

this

eh?

[DG.]

As the old joke goes.

'Name me your favourite white fighter of all time'

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Sugar Ray leonard!