Classic fights I've watched recently

[elmersalsa]

Roberto Duran vs Hiroshi Kobayashi


A young Duran before he became world champ fighting former World Super Featherweight champ Kobayashi, as game as Kobayashi was he was always 2nd best against the aggressive relentless Duran who never stopped throwing shots, setting everything up with the jab following up with combinations to head and body, the end came in the 7th when Duran nailed Kobayashi with a right/left/right combo, right out the top drawer

The Hands of Stone most underrated asset was his speed. That right, left, right combination was classic Duran.

[elmersalsa]

Roberto Duran vs Carlos Palomino


Duran wins a 10 round decision over Palomino, enjoyable fight despite the dominance of Duran from start to finish, he was excellent again and at his ruthless best landing solid right hands and wicked lefts to the body throughout, always on his toes throwing the jab the jumping in with those little bursts of combinations from both hands to head and body, Palomino took his lumps though and TBF never looked like being stopped, even when Duran put him down at the start of the 6th with a overhand right Palomino jumped straight back up, good little fight

That was the fight that put the great Roberto Duran as a serious welterweight contender for the welterweight crown.

[handsofstone]

Roberto Duran vs Carlos Palomino


Duran wins a 10 round decision over Palomino, enjoyable fight despite the dominance of Duran from start to finish, he was excellent again and at his ruthless best landing solid right hands and wicked lefts to the body throughout, always on his toes throwing the jab the jumping in with those little bursts of combinations from both hands to head and body, Palomino took his lumps though and TBF never looked like being stopped, even when Duran put him down at the start of the 6th with a overhand right Palomino jumped straight back up, good little fight

That was the fight that put the great Roberto Duran as a serious welterweight contender for the welterweight crown.

My dads favourite fight

[handsofstone]

Roberto Duran vs Pipino Cuevas


Duran destroys Cuevas in 4, Cuevas did have some success to the body in some exchanges on the inside but mostly Duran made him miss on the outside and nailed him with right hands, he hurt Cuevas in the 4th and showed great accuracy with the follow up to put him down, Cuevas was on borrowed time after that and another barrage put him down to end things, I think it was the left to the body this time that put him down, excellent finishing instincts from Duran again

[handsofstone]

Vinny Pazienza vs Roberto Duran 1+2


Pazienza wins both fights via UD, Duran was 43/44 at the time and a long way past his best but he still had enough about him to last the distance, even putting Pazienza down fairly heavily with a lovely straight right hand in their 1st fight, Pazienza was the clear winner both times though, he was the busier and stronger getting off with those fast flurries to the body on the inside, Duran showing his guile though and tying up Vinny and making him miss by millemetres on occasions

Both were competitive fights but apart from the knockdown Duran scored in the 1st fight, there wasn't too much to write about, Pazienza loves to hold on the rope with one hand and punch with the other, he was guilty of it in both fights

[RazorKO]

James Green vs Mugabi.
Green gave Mugabi his toughest fight by far pre Hagler. Mugabi was very lucky that the ref didnt stop it in the third since Green was all over him and was one punch away from scoring a KO.

James Green vs Frank Fletcher.
Another action packed brawl.

Tyson vs Ruddock II.
This fight showed how tough Tyson really was. Tyson stood there with the hardest puncher in the heavyweight division since Shavers, and never took a backward step.

Sibson vs Kaylor.
A lot of clinching in this fight. Whilst the scores were close I thought Sibbo won comfortably. It seemed to me for the most part Kaylor fought just to last the distance. Which is uncharacteristic of him since Kaylor always showed a warriors heart through out his career.

[Ambling Alp II]

Wouldn't say they were classics, but there was a lot of fun fights in the early 1980s with 2nd tier middleweights with colorful nicknames. Frank "The Animal Fletcher and James "Hardrock" Green were two of them. There was also "Caveman" Lee and "Vampire" Johnson.

A fight doesn't have to have two great fighters to be entertaining. If the fighters are exciting to watch and you feel both guys have a chance, then it can be fun to watch. You don't see many of these kinds of fights anymore.

John "The Beast" Mugabi was at least a level ahead of these guys.

[handsofstone]

Hector Camacho vs Roberto Duran 1+2


Camacho wins both fights by decision although I thought Duran won the first fight probably, I never scored it but I thought he outlanded Camacho who although was in his mid 30s should've dealt with Duran who was mid 40s a lot better

The rematch was even worse Duran was 50 but still had no problem lasting the course, Camacho never even came close to getting him out of there, infact he barely landed a solid blow despite winning widely, Duran was awful but you cant help but be impressed by a 50 year old man who goes 12 rounds

Both fights were dominated by a lot of holding, spoiling and grabbing, awful to watch unsurprisingly but Camacho should've done better especially

[handsofstone]

William Joppy vs Roberto Duran


Joppy stops an ancient Duran in 3, too young, sharp and accurate for Duran who looked about as bad as i'd seen him ever, even worse than he looked in the Camacho rematch which was 3 years later, he seemed to struggle with Joppy's power which visably hurt him a couple of times before the finish, it was the right hand that got the ball rolling wobbling Duran and Joppy went in for the kill, Duran stood on the ropes hands by his side inviting pressure but still moving his head and body to make Joppy miss some shots, it looked like a bit of machismo on Duran's part but a couple of clean punches landed and the ref stepped in, Duran never went down though

[handsofstone]

Sugar Ray Leonard vs Donny Lalonde


Excellent performance from Leonard who KO's Lalonde in 9 to win SMW/LHW titles, Lalonde put him down with a right hand in the 4th but Leonard showing his durability throughout. Lalonde caught him with some solid shots but he took most of them well, even right before the KO Lalonde hurt Leonard but SRL fought him punch for punch and put him down with a sweet left hook on the inside which Donny never seen coming, Leonard's finishing instincts where as sharp as ever and unloaded on Lalonde, the left hand to KO him was a sickner and Lalonde was down for a while

Leonard was class, even at this later stage he was still so quick and accurate with those flurries and his defence was decent too, really good win for Leonard

[Bodyshot3]

Sugar Ray Leonard vs Donny Lalonde


Excellent performance from Leonard who KO's Lalonde in 9 to win SMW/LHW titles, Lalonde put him down with a right hand in the 4th but Leonard showing his durability throughout. Lalonde caught him with some solid shots but he took most of them well, even right before the KO Lalonde hurt Leonard but SRL fought him punch for punch and put him down with a sweet left hook on the inside which Donny never seen coming, Leonard's finishing instincts where as sharp as ever and unloaded on Lalonde, the left hand to KO him was a sickner and Lalonde was down for a while

Leonard was class, even at this later stage he was still so quick and accurate with those flurries and his defence was decent too, really good win for Leonard

Fair to say that Lalonde was not too shabby either?
Not many folk put Leonard on his backside until he went back to the well too often.

[handsofstone]

Sugar Ray Leonard vs Donny Lalonde


Excellent performance from Leonard who KO's Lalonde in 9 to win SMW/LHW titles, Lalonde put him down with a right hand in the 4th but Leonard showing his durability throughout. Lalonde caught him with some solid shots but he took most of them well, even right before the KO Lalonde hurt Leonard but SRL fought him punch for punch and put him down with a sweet left hook on the inside which Donny never seen coming, Leonard's finishing instincts where as sharp as ever and unloaded on Lalonde, the left hand to KO him was a sickner and Lalonde was down for a while

Leonard was class, even at this later stage he was still so quick and accurate with those flurries and his defence was decent too, really good win for Leonard

Fair to say that Lalonde was not too shabby either?
Not many folk put Leonard on his backside until he went back to the well too often.

Yeah it was a lovely right hand that he put him down with, seemed to catch Leonard high on the head, Howard was the only guy to deck Leonard up until that point

[handsofstone]

Terry Norris vs Sugar Ray Leonard


Norris wins a dominant UD against a finished Leonard, he was a lot sharper and too quick for Leonard, he had SRL down twice, first in the 2nd round when he caught Leonard first in an exchange of left hooks, Norris was lucky though not to be deducted for hitting Leonard when he was down, he put Leonard down with a right hand in the 7th as well, Norris boxed excellently on his toes jabbing and setting up attacks, there were slight cameos of Leonard's speed now and again but he barely won a round, he did show tremendous heart again though, he had a torrid last few rounds and looked ready to be stopped but he went out like the champ he is and went the distance

[Bodyshot3]

Worrying news about Errol Christie appearing on the board....I am going to watch some of his fights.

[handsofstone]

Hector Camacho vs Sugar Ray Leonard


Camacho stops Leonard in 5 in Sugar Ray's last ever fight and the only time he was KO'd, he was shot to bits by then, nearly 6 years retired and since he was beating up by Norris, he could barely get around the ring his legs were gone and Camacho's southpaw style and speed troubled him from the start, Camacho put Leonard down with a left hand in the 5th, SRL got up but was spent and Camacho laid into him on the ropes rocking his head back, he caught Leonard with a sweet left uppercut right before the ref jumped in

Awful to see fighters like Leonard go out like that, Camacho sent both Leonard and Duran into retirement

[handsofstone]

Tommy Hearns vs Murray Sutherland


Hearns wins a 10 round decision against the always tough and capable Sutherland, Hearns started off well and rocked Sutherlamd in the first couple of rounds with big right hands but injured his right and had to box the rest of the fight by boxing smart, Sutherland had most success when trading with Hearns in the early going but seemed to slip into sparring mode when Hearns injured his hand and lowered to his (injured) level IMO, Hearns showing his class again by winning wide but I personally think Sutherland had the ability to make a better fist of it against that version on Hearns

[handsofstone]

Tommy Hearns vs Dennis Andries


Hearns KOs Andries in 10 to become LHW champ, he had Dennis down 6 times although the ref wrongly ruled one of them a push, good start from Hearns on his toes using the jab to good effect, Andries couldn't really bully him and struggled to impose his strength on him, Hearns put him down with a cracker of a right hand in the 6th then had him down 3 more times in the round with Andries still shaken by the first knockdown, if I hadn't of known Andries made it to the 10th beforehand i'd have put money on Hearns finishing him off before the round was up, fair play to Andries though he toughed it out and had a little success as Tommy tired, Hearns put him down with another lovely right hand in the 9th then finished Andries in the following round, Andries looked exhausted and it was hard to tell if a shot put him down in the 10th, might have been a little short left hook but the ref again called a KD and was ready to let Andries continue but his legs were gone and he stumbled away from the ref and he waved it off

[handsofstone]

Tommy Hearns vs Virgil Hill

Hearns wins a close UD to become LHW champ again, not a classic IMO it never really got going, it was a real battle of the jabs from the start, both guys had excellent jabs but up until the 6th round, neither guy had landed a right hand, it was Hearns who upped the tempo in the 6th when he started throwing combinations and landing but Hill showed a great chin throughout, I think it was in the 9th he was staggered slightly but recovered well, when it was a jab off, both guys were nip/tuck but it was Hearns second gear that won on the night, he seemed to want it more and Hill never had any success outwith the jab, competitive fight but Hearns occasional aggression won it for me

[Nile4000]

Really appreciate that Duran performance and think it was one of his best, certainly that I have watched, even in defeat.

I would imagine if I was watching it then, if you asked me if a former lightweight could hold his own vs Hagler, I'd have laughed at you

Yeah I agree it was a terrific effort from Duran, as you said going in a lot of people must have been thinking Hagler was gonna destroy him, Duran was able to hold his own comfortably on the inside, he was an excellent inside fighter but he just couldn't sustain his pressure for long spells and Hagler was able to get his own shots off from the outside

Great effort by the Hands of Stone. But, the weight, the weight was really Duran's biggest enemy here. He didn't had the necessary speed to counter Marvelous. Marvelous was faster and much stronger at the end. This is another example of the bigger great fighter beats the smaller great man.

Hats off to Marvelous. He got a lot criticism of why he didn't blow out a blown lightweight. But, I think this fight made Marvelous if you think about it. He had to come from behind in the scorecards to beat the Hands of Stone. Like a great champion, he applied the pressure and solved the problem. A great win nonetheless.

There is no way a Monzon, or Valdez allows Roberto to last that long.

[Nile4000]

Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore


Just an absolute demolition job from Duran, he battered Moore from pillar to post and no matter what Moore did or landed it had no effect on Duran and he just kept ploughing forward blasting Davey with both hands, upstairs and down and occasionally very low down, give Moore credit he tried to fight fire with fire and tried to engage on the inside but it was no use as Duran was perfect, even on the outside Moore was being outjabbed and rattled by left hooks and right hands

Finally Duran put Moore down in the 7th with a right cross, Davey was saved by the bell for the time being and Duran finishing him off in the 8th, the ref stepping in later than he should've after Moore was a human punchbag


Ive seen a lot of Duran, he's had some great night and performances, Leonard 1, De Jesus 2+3, Buchanan, Barklay stand out but this fight against Moore might be my favourite

Roberto is the man, but Moore at 100 percent still wins.

[handsofstone]

Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore


Just an absolute demolition job from Duran, he battered Moore from pillar to post and no matter what Moore did or landed it had no effect on Duran and he just kept ploughing forward blasting Davey with both hands, upstairs and down and occasionally very low down, give Moore credit he tried to fight fire with fire and tried to engage on the inside but it was no use as Duran was perfect, even on the outside Moore was being outjabbed and rattled by left hooks and right hands

Finally Duran put Moore down in the 7th with a right cross, Davey was saved by the bell for the time being and Duran finishing him off in the 8th, the ref stepping in later than he should've after Moore was a human punchbag


Ive seen a lot of Duran, he's had some great night and performances, Leonard 1, De Jesus 2+3, Buchanan, Barklay stand out but this fight against Moore might be my favourite

Roberto is the man, but Moore at 100 percent still wins.

Ive only ever seen this fight with Moore but I hear he was good champion, I don't know what your referring to about him being not 100% fit but from what I seen from this fight, as tough as he was, he tried to be game even at the end but IMO he was too vulnerable for Duran who was on top form

[Nile4000]

Roberto Duran vs Davey Moore


Just an absolute demolition job from Duran, he battered Moore from pillar to post and no matter what Moore did or landed it had no effect on Duran and he just kept ploughing forward blasting Davey with both hands, upstairs and down and occasionally very low down, give Moore credit he tried to fight fire with fire and tried to engage on the inside but it was no use as Duran was perfect, even on the outside Moore was being outjabbed and rattled by left hooks and right hands

Finally Duran put Moore down in the 7th with a right cross, Davey was saved by the bell for the time being and Duran finishing him off in the 8th, the ref stepping in later than he should've after Moore was a human punchbag


Ive seen a lot of Duran, he's had some great night and performances, Leonard 1, De Jesus 2+3, Buchanan, Barklay stand out but this fight against Moore might be my favourite

Roberto is the man, but Moore at 100 percent still wins.

Ive only ever seen this fight with Moore but I hear he was good champion, I don't know what your referring to about him being not 100% fit but from what I seen from this fight, as tough as he was, he tried to be game even at the end but IMO he was too vulnerable for Duran who was on top form

My understanding was Davey took the fight with some recent dental work. I think if he postponed it, he would have fared better.

[handsofstone]

Tommy Hearns vs Juan Roldan


Hearns KOs Roldan in 4 rounds to win the vacant MW title, very action packed fun filled 4 rounds, with both guys throwing bombs from the get go, Roldan down twice in the opener from right hands but also hurt Hearns as well and had him holding on for dear life, Hearns had him down again the 2nd from a left hook which seemed to catch Roldan off balance, again though Roldan came firing back, he hurt Tommy in the 3rd as well, both guys looked shattered in the 4th and Roldan wobbled the legs of Hearns but Tommy showed his champion heart and game changing power and finished Roldan off with a thudding right hand

Excellent little war

[Bodyshot3]

Kaylor v Christie.....a fight heavily loaded with all sorts of boxing and social issues.

Errol and Mark totally contrasting men, different styles as well and always the undercurrent of Britain struggling to bring white and black together.

There was of course the fight before the fight - a presser where nice suits were left hanging by a thread and the press had a field day - and the night itself did not disappoint with Christie looking sharp and the natural boxer but Kaylor clearly the more rugged man and blessed with an ability to hit very hard and pull the trigger.

A world class encounter, remembered beyond these shores?

Probably not, to be perfectly frank.

But as a classic domestic dust-up between two talented fighters from markedly different backgrounds it was a classic.

RIP Errol.

[Counter-puncher]

Roberto is the man, but Moore at 100 percent still wins.

Ive only ever seen this fight with Moore but I hear he was good champion, I don't know what your referring to about him being not 100% fit but from what I seen from this fight, as tough as he was, he tried to be game even at the end but IMO he was too vulnerable for Duran who was on top form

My understanding was Davey took the fight with some recent dental work. I think if he postponed it, he would have fared better.

Given he was beaten half-blind and his balls knocked into his throat I'd say his teeth were the least of his problems