Its definitely up there. Hill was a fine fighter, and hearns past his best and fighting at a much higher weight. Great result.
Duran v Barkley for me too, what a performance.
Yes, Duran pulled everything together. Barkley fought a superb fight himself but his aggression inspired Duran to draw on everything from his box of tricks. Barkley had improved so much from his gruelling fights as a contender (flawed but thrilling fights with Amparo, Tinley, Williams, Kinchen f Sims) - but here he looked like a champ, with good variety, compact punching and use of pivots f angles to set up attacks. Duran took monster head and body shots that night and responded with outstanding counters. He just seemed to land the right punches when he needed to - getting Barkley’s respect at the end of round one, with that sneaky right over the slow jab; & the late knockdown, sealing the very narrow victory.
I see Toney v Jirov as an eerily similar fight. Old pro conserving energy and winning on toughness, smarts and superb timing and punch placement.
Yes, agree with all of this, Duran always had an answer, it was a masterclass, and yes, always though of that and the Toney v Jirov fight in the same light. Think Duran and Toney were around the same age.
On a related note, toneys destruction of Holyfield doesnt get enough credit. Sure Holyfield was shopworn, but he was still tough as hell, and Toney was past his considerable prime too. Nobody ever put a one sided beatdown on Holyfield like that before or after. He made Evander look totally outclassed, which is an insane thing to say about an all time great.
Autobarn wrote: ↑11 Jul 2019, 03:05
Yes, Duran pulled everything together. Barkley fought a superb fight himself but his aggression inspired Duran to draw on everything from his box of tricks. Barkley had improved so much from his gruelling fights as a contender (flawed but thrilling fights with Amparo, Tinley, Williams, Kinchen f Sims) - but here he looked like a champ, with good variety, compact punching and use of pivots f angles to set up attacks. Duran took monster head and body shots that night and responded with outstanding counters. He just seemed to land the right punches when he needed to - getting Barkley’s respect at the end of round one, with that sneaky right over the slow jab; & the late knockdown, sealing the very narrow victory.
I see Toney v Jirov as an eerily similar fight. Old pro conserving energy and winning on toughness, smarts and superb timing and punch placement.
Yes, agree with all of this, Duran always had an answer, it was a masterclass, and yes, always though of that and the Toney v Jirov fight in the same light. Think Duran and Toney were around the same age.
On a related note, toneys destruction of Holyfield doesnt get enough credit. Sure Holyfield was shopworn, but he was still tough as hell, and Toney was past his considerable prime too. Nobody ever put a one sided beatdown on Holyfield like that before or after. He made Evander look totally outclassed, which is an insane thing to say about an all time great.
Agreed again on all counts, I was watching the Toney Vander fight again the other night, albeit Holyfield looked like a depleted version, but Toney was imperious.
Yes, agree with all of this, Duran always had an answer, it was a masterclass, and yes, always though of that and the Toney v Jirov fight in the same light. Think Duran and Toney were around the same age.
On a related note, toneys destruction of Holyfield doesnt get enough credit. Sure Holyfield was shopworn, but he was still tough as hell, and Toney was past his considerable prime too. Nobody ever put a one sided beatdown on Holyfield like that before or after. He made Evander look totally outclassed, which is an insane thing to say about an all time great.
Agreed again on all counts, I was watching the Toney Vander fight again the other night, albeit Holyfield looked like a depleted version, but Toney was imperious.
It was around 2003 when Hopkins was seriously considering going to 190lbs to meet Toney, whilst it may have been a boring fight to some end I would have loved to have seen what Toney would have done with Hopkins when he was in the form.
Autobarn wrote: ↑11 Jul 2019, 03:05
Yes, Duran pulled everything together. Barkley fought a superb fight himself but his aggression inspired Duran to draw on everything from his box of tricks. Barkley had improved so much from his gruelling fights as a contender (flawed but thrilling fights with Amparo, Tinley, Williams, Kinchen f Sims) - but here he looked like a champ, with good variety, compact punching and use of pivots f angles to set up attacks. Duran took monster head and body shots that night and responded with outstanding counters. He just seemed to land the right punches when he needed to - getting Barkley’s respect at the end of round one, with that sneaky right over the slow jab; & the late knockdown, sealing the very narrow victory.
I see Toney v Jirov as an eerily similar fight. Old pro conserving energy and winning on toughness, smarts and superb timing and punch placement.
Yes, agree with all of this, Duran always had an answer, it was a masterclass, and yes, always though of that and the Toney v Jirov fight in the same light. Think Duran and Toney were around the same age.
On a related note, toneys destruction of Holyfield doesnt get enough credit. Sure Holyfield was shopworn, but he was still tough as hell, and Toney was past his considerable prime too. Nobody ever put a one sided beatdown on Holyfield like that before or after. He made Evander look totally outclassed, which is an insane thing to say about an all time great.
It wasn't a beating, but hadn't Larry Donald basically blanked Holyfield the year before? I don't remember if his fight with Holy was in '03 or '05, but I know he all but shut him out.
Coco wrote: ↑15 Jul 2019, 09:16
I thought at that point and with the division being so weak that Toney could have won the title
Well Toney did win the title, but then got stripped. He beat John Ruiz (who must hate great Middleweights) but failed the drugs test.
Apparently Toney by then had sustained severe damage to his pituitary gland from the accumulation of shots, and has to be given artificial testosterone shots.
Going in there were fears for Morales against a puncher who's natural weight was much higher but Morales fought very well, hurting Maidana a couple of times and if he hadn't have gassed late he could have pulled out a decision.
