Roberto Duran, what would?

[Ambling Alp II]

Thank for your well thought out contribution.

[elmersalsa]

I agree- just watch it. Again and again you will see Leonard move right towards Duran. He used very little lateral movement with his feet, nor did he have a lot of head movement. It's all right there for anyone to see.

And it was stupid. Going right at most opponents would have worked. However it was not enough to beat Duran. Leonard fought hard, but he did not fight smart. Leonard only has himself to blame for fighting that way. Boxing is not just about ability; it is about using tactics and strategies that you give you the best chance to win.

As far as how close the fight was - elmer himself scored the fight for Duran by three points. Three points is a close fight. How he can keep saying it was not is mind boggling. Basic math and basic logic tells you it was.

That fight was not a close fight. It seemed close by the clutching and grabbing by Sugar Ray. You wanna know what is a close fight?
Ismael Laguna vs Ken Buchanan II
Aaron Pryor vs Alexis Arguello I
Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton
Vicente Saldivar vs Ismael Laguna
Bobby Chacon vs Bazooka Limon IV

Those are close fights.

How Sugar Ray made "the wrong fight" when Duran was the smaller guy, Leonard was stronger and bigger and faster? That's like saying that Duran was the INFERIOR boxer. Like he ain't got no skills. Duran was one of the most versatile boxers ever. Not just a slugger. He could also box and set you up in angles.

Duran went up 12 pounds to get a decent fight. When both were AT THEIR VERY BEST, DURAN WON. NO EXCUSES. DURAN, THE BEST!

[Ambling Alp II]

Duran weighed two less than he did in his previous fight.
Three points is a close fight. It was closer thn Arguello-Pryor
Leonard TKO8 over Roberto "The Quitter" Duran.

[elmersalsa]

It just gets funnier.

Question.

Who is the bigger imbecile? The big mouthed, egotistical, multi millionaire Leonard, who told the world he would easily dispose of Duran in Montreal, by " FIGHTING HIM AT HIS OWN GAME " or any single one of his internet fanboys?

Why didn't their fathers get in touch with the Leonard camp and tell the fukwit that would be the " wrong fight " ?

Just the usual 20 / 20 bullsh.it hindsight vision again. Truth is a little Panamanian scrapper battered Murica's poxy darling, and they have never got over it.

When the American people say that "Leonard fought the wrong fight" against Manos de Piedra, it means that they never got over it.

For real. It was like they don't want to give credit of how magnificent he looked in that fight, and that that was THE ONLY WAY that Duran could win the fight. But there's a God upstairs that is just and saw it. Anybody that is fair and just boxing fanatic knew that Sugar Ray got his ass kicked with all that clutching and grabbing withstanding by Leonard.

[elmersalsa]

Duran weighed two less than he did in his previous fight.
Three points is a close fight. It was closer thn Arguello-Pryor
Leonard TKO8 over Roberto "The Quitter" Duran.

Pryor vs Arguello I was much, more closer than that ass WHUPPIN Duran gave Leonard in Montreal.

[Cojimar 1946]

These things go in cycles. America has probably been the most powerful country since the 1940s but in earlier times America wasn't especially powerful. Spain was once a superpower but are now 3rd rate.

[Seamus]

Typically 'Muricans' are stereotyped as gun toting, redneck racists, yet the same idiots can restructure the argument to include people who are fans of a fighter who happens to be black.

[Ambling Alp II]

Unbelievable how bizarre people's reasoning can be. They form an opinion first, then start grasping at straws to defend it.
Don't forget that you are a "fanboy" if you like someone that someone else doesn't.

[elmersalsa]

Esteban De Jesus beat the Hands of Stone fair and square. He was the ONLY FIGHTER that beat the great Roberto Duran at his very best. Nobody from the Duran's fans got an excuse that Duran fought the wrong fight. He just simply lost to Esteban and that's all to it.

But anybody that tries to justify Sugar Ray's loss to Duran in Montreal that "he fought the wrong fight" they REALLY DON'T KNOW CRAP ABOUT BOXING. They got their feelings hurt when Roberto whupped that azz. It's true golden oldie, these Muricans never got over it.

That "Leonard fought the wrong fight" is a big excuse. Like if Duran wasn't supposed to win anyway. Like if Duran didn't had no technical skills. Duran trained his ass off for that fight to prove not only the Panamanian people he will whup Leonard, but the whole entire world.

And then these fanboys of Sugar Ray want to discredit Duran in any which way they can. Duran the lightweight, whupped that ass and that was all to it. Sugar Ray was bigger, supposedly faster, at his weight class, taller and supposedly had the welterweight power to knock the Duran out. Duran went up 12 pounds to fight Leonard.

Duran in Montreal proved TO A LOT OF PEOPLE that he was the real deal. He is better than Leonard. He proved it when BOTH WERE AT THEIR VERY BEST OF THEIR GAMES. That Leonard beat better fighters? Yes. But these buffoons don't want to admit that those fights happened in Leonard's welterweight class. Where two of them (Wilfred Benitez and Duran) weren't real WELTERWEIGHTS. The ONLY TRUE WELTERWEIGHT LEONARD BEAT WAS the great Thomas Hearns.

That's like saying the greats Alexis Arguello and Wilfredo Gomez got the enough balls to challenge Duran's Lightweight crown. It would be a greater ledger in Duran's resume. Don't you think people?

[elmersalsa]

Typically 'Muricans' are stereotyped as gun toting, redneck racists, yet the same idiots can restructure the argument to include people who are fans of a fighter who happens to be black.

Possibly because those fans of ANY particular fighter, irrespective of his colour are NOT racists like Muricans are. Doh!!

What I will say without fear of contradiction is there is NO ONE on this or any other forum with the ring knowledge of Leonard. Therefore when HE stated he was going to beat Duran at his own game, it is beyond arrogant for some internet scumbag fanboy to claim in retrospect he " fought the wrong fight " It is merely their scabby opinion with the benefit of hindsight. It has less than NO bearing on what happened in either the preparation for, or the modus operandi of the actual fight.

If these MUPPETS are that fukking clever, how come he is the multi millionaire ex fighter, and they are NOT?

I have yet to encounter a Duran fan who would even attempt to make the cringeworthy excuse " he fought the wrong fight " when he lost to Kirkland Laing.

[Seamus]

Duran fans don't use the wrong fight excuse, they go with the "he was in a funk and unmotivated and unfocused excuse". But never let facts get in the way of ridiculous claims. Roberto "Forever A Lightweight" Duran, ( to really be consistent it should be Roberto "Actually A Featherweight" Duran, because that's where he began his career) hadn't made 135 since Jan 21 1978, while Montreal was June 20 1980. The last time Duran actually fought at LW, SRL's pro record was 6-0 ! When Duran gave up his title a yr later, Leonard's most recent fight had been against Johnny Gant. But if you ever really want to hear Duran fans get even more ridiculous, ask them why there guy never fought Alexis Arguello. All of a sudden Roberto "Forever A Lightweight" Duran is allowed the excuse that he could no longer make 135 or even 140.

[Ambling Alp II]

Yeah "only" ten. How could someone possibly get used to a weight class after "only" 10 fights at it?

Most veteran fighters take about 27 fights after moving up in weight class before challenging for a title don't they?

Only 10.