herol graham/ roberto duran- did they ever spar?

[mahatma]

pleased to see my thread re-emerge- ed robinson is correct steve collins wasnt ko'd by eastman he simply collapsed at the start of the round before a punch was thrown- herol on the comeback trail at 30 whatever was put in with eastman and not told he was a puncher and simply got clipped bad knockout think he got taken to hospital afterwards- i got herols book over xmas not got round to starting it yet but look forward to reading the spar with duran- so what other good sparring stories/gossip has anyone got from present or years gone by?

[nobby_nobbins]

If Duran could be bamboozled by the likes of Kirkland Laing I imagine Herol would have done at least as well.

[Bricks]

kirklaind laing looked as good as sugar ray that night but was never the same the rest of his career.
Herol Graham never quite stepped out of his skin to turn it up like that on his biggest nights.
The mccallum and graham fight was fought with incredible intensity both really looked the business that night.
I never quite get how people think watson would have competed with graham I could see Graham stopping him and bamboozling him.

[Crazyboy]

Sometimes you've just got to agree to disagree.
Boxing is about opinions, and I respect everyone's right to that.
For me, Herol was the best.
I recall fondly watching this immense talent train, then go on public appearances for PR for the gym, raising money.
He would spar for two minutes with his hands tied behind his back, and if you laid a glove on him he owed you a tenner.
If you didn't you owed him a tenner.
Poetry in montion, Herol.
Never paid out once - be it a young lad just trying for fun, or the local hard man wanting to make a name for himself.
And there on the sidelines would be a couple of young kids taking it all in, trying to emulate him the next day in the gym.
A couple of close mates called Hamed and Rhodes.
Herol was the Chief Executive of the "who wants / needs him" Club.
Avoided like the plague.

Eyup mate, maybe you can confirm something for me, i'm sure he was doing this same stunt on the Moor in sheffield waaaaaaaaaaaaay back for charity.

people could just come along and pay money to try, i maybe wrong but i'm sure he did.

Sublime skills that man

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Your best trying to Speak to Spud, Twenty Six or Big Lennox on this issue, particularly Spud.

aaaah they were the days.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Herol speaks about this sparring in his autobiography.

That doesn't necessarily mean anything. I don't know either way. Plenty of autobiographies have entries that could be attributed to a faulty memory, or embellishment, or out and out lies.

Former Manchester Heavyweight Michael Murray wrote a critically aclaimed book that was chock full of events that only seem to have existed in the mind of the author.

[Ezzard]

kirklaind laing looked as good as sugar ray that night but was never the same the rest of his career.
Herol Graham never quite stepped out of his skin to turn it up like that on his biggest nights.
The mccallum and graham fight was fought with incredible intensity both really looked the business that night.
I never quite get how people think watson would have competed with graham I could see Graham stopping him and bamboozling him.

Have you seen the fight, mate?

I loved Kirklandand he was an amazing talent but Duran looked like my nan's rice pudding in a pair of shorts that night.

[Bricks]

kirklaind laing looked as good as sugar ray that night but was never the same the rest of his career.
Herol Graham never quite stepped out of his skin to turn it up like that on his biggest nights.
The mccallum and graham fight was fought with incredible intensity both really looked the business that night.
I never quite get how people think watson would have competed with graham I could see Graham stopping him and bamboozling him.

Have you seen the fight, mate?

I loved Kirklandand he was an amazing talent but Duran looked like my nan's rice pudding in a pair of shorts that night.

I didnt make any comment whatsover about how good or bad Duran was that night so I dont know what your point is...have you seen the fight? I have..... otherwise i wouldnt comment on it......Duran didnt look any worse than he did against Sugar Ray....both SRL and Laing made him look bad....thats why as you so eloquently put it Duran looked like "(your) nans rice pudding in a pair of shorts that night"..

[Ezzard]

kirklaind laing looked as good as sugar ray that night but was never the same the rest of his career.
Herol Graham never quite stepped out of his skin to turn it up like that on his biggest nights.
The mccallum and graham fight was fought with incredible intensity both really looked the business that night.
I never quite get how people think watson would have competed with graham I could see Graham stopping him and bamboozling him.

Have you seen the fight, mate?

I loved Kirklandand he was an amazing talent but Duran looked like my nan's rice pudding in a pair of shorts that night.

I didnt make any comment whatsover about how good or bad Duran was that night so I dont know what your point is...have you seen the fight? I have..... otherwise i wouldnt comment on it......Duran didnt look any worse than he did against Sugar Ray....both SRL and Laing made him look bad....thats why as you so eloquently put it Duran looked like "(your) nans rice pudding in a pair of shorts that night"..

Then you'd know Duran wobbled every time he took a step forwards. That was my point.

[mahatma]

take nothing away from laing it was a great win - however duran was simply not in shape and had underestimated laing who when on song could of performed with any of them- infact laing couldnt believe it when honeyghan won the world title as laing called honeyghan his' beating stick' from their spars together unfortunately what laing had in natural ability he lacked in terms of commitment and focus- he was a great example of a hot and cold fighter , but when he was hot he was sizzling!

[Ezzard]

take nothing away from laing it was a great win - however duran was simply not in shape and had underestimated laing who when on song could of performed with any of them- infact laing couldnt believe it when honeyghan won the world title as laing called honeyghan his' beating stick' from their spars together unfortunately what laing had in natural ability he lacked in terms of commitment and focus- he was a great example of a hot and cold fighter , but when he was hot he was sizzling!

I read the biography. Thought it was really good. It also captured the boxing scene of that era pretty well too.

Kirk was unlucky but he alos made things far harder for himself.

And an out of shape/over the hill Duran was still good enough to beat many world class boxers many years later.

[DavidPayne]

Herol would have trounced Benn at his peak. Eubank wouldn't fight him it is alleged, but I think Watson may have been crisp, precise, straight enough to trouble him. But I'd pick Herol over all of them and would have loved to have seen Hagler v Graham in 1985/6. He may have pre-empted SRL though likely Hagler wouldn't have pissed about for six rounds playing mind games.

[ed robinson]

Duran is my all time favourite fighter but he struggled with movers more the heavier he got. His feet were so fast at lightweight although I still think Pernell Whittaker would have given him fits. Duran looked leaden against Laing who fought on nerves and kept beating him to the punch.

I know Laing was enigmatic but I still don't buy totally into the huge under achiever thing. He apparently put everything into training for the Colin Jones rematch and still fell short. Yeah, you can't do in a few weeks what you need to do over a few years but his lifestyle was as tangible a failing as having no chin, or stamina or speed. It's what he was.

Regarding Hagler, I know it isn't a popular opinion but I think Marvin had slowed down considerably when he lost to Leonard. Seeing Leonard wind up a bolo shot like that, you just shouldn't get away with stuff like that. I loved that fight but, after the Mugabi war, Leonard was definitely also in the right place at the right time.

[Ezzard]

To be fair, Ed, Colin Jones was a world class banger. He could have got the decision against McCrory who was later rated in the p4p top ten for a brief period.

Whittaker gives anyone fits. That's the way he was. It's not a fight worth arguing about because it just comes down to who you prefer.

[mahatma]

i felt hagler lost that fight for 2 main reasons, which leonard specified before the fight it had to be over 12 and not 15 rounds and it was a bigger ring than usual- this gave leonard the space and time to make his skills appear even more dazzling.
I agree that the mugabi fight took alot out of hagler, who was losing the fight at the midway point and mugabi was something like 25 wins 25 kos- watched leonard/hagler fight at Leicester square odeon walked out dumb struck at the end couldnt believe hagler had lost.
The fight game is all about timing leonard got it right againt hagler,herol graham(and im a massive fan of his) would of got it seriously wrong against hagler in 85

[big lennox]

I was watching Leonard vs Hagler again recently.I still can't believe the size of the ring.A couple of years earlier and a smaller ring and I think Hagler would have posted a clear victory.

[stujones]

It wasn't exactly perfect timing for Leonard who hadn't fought in 3 years - but I still agree with the view points.... still, remarkable achievement what Leonard did that night.

[ERIC GUY]

I filmed the sparring with Duran and Nigel, it was just a few rounds, but great to watch a legend......

[big lennox]

It wasn't exactly perfect timing for Leonard who hadn't fought in 3 years - but I still agree with the view points.... still, remarkable achievement what Leonard did that night.

True, although Leonard has a few 'fights' behind closed doors so he wasn't strictly 3 years without fighting.That said he was a remarkable fighter, mentally as well as physically and I love watching his bouts. He;d have dusted Pacquaio off quite easily, I think.

[Bricks]

It wasn't exactly perfect timing for Leonard who hadn't fought in 3 years - but I still agree with the view points.... still, remarkable achievement what Leonard did that night.

True, although Leonard has a few 'fights' behind closed doors so he wasn't strictly 3 years without fighting.That said he was a remarkable fighter, mentally as well as physically and I love watching his bouts. He;d have dusted Pacquaio off quite easily, I think.

He'd been decked by Quincy Taylor in one of those fights too....the Hagler fight was definetly the last peak SRL we saw... getting back to Watson-Graham, I remember a interview in boxing news in 1990 just before the mccallum fight where Watson said he would beat Graham but Graham would make him look bad. Graham would imo have been brutally exposed by Hagler in 86...Hagler b4 the mugabi war was just too sharp a boxer, one thing that doesnt get discussed enough is Grahams record against true world class boxers....he beat Kalule, he lost a close yet clear one to Kalambay, he lost a close one to mccallum...I dont think those 3 as good as they were , were anything close to Hagler in early 86.

[mahatma]

agree with mugabi about what hagler would of done to graham at that time- however my interest in graham was his first 40 or so fights great performances at light middle and middle before fighting mccallum-if he'd of been london based he'd of got a shot earlier , he changed his style tried to be more aggressive ,crowd pleasing when he joined eastwood, he lately admited himself this was a big mistake,the change of style left him exposed as he got older he lost the reflexes and the rest is history

[Bricks]

the 89 bomber graham was already in slight decline imo....the 86/87 version was smoking hot...that great run kalambay went on....that could easily have been bomber if he had stuck to his principles and kept his focus......I could see herol handling brakley, de witt, sims, mccallum, olajide and others at that time.

[ERIC GUY]

There is video footage of Ed Robinson sparring with Herol...............

[Final round]

Cheers mahatma
It was before the Duran-Sims fight in June 1986. Herol and Barry McGuigan were over with Barney Eastwood and both boxed on the same show.

Nicely done

[Pugilist-specialist]

Dragged this thread up as Parson Cross is meeting Herol tonight.