BoxRec

Firstly thanks BM for an excellent article on Duke this month. I know Duke gets alot of stick for his commentating style but we do forget what an excellent boxer he was.
World champ in 3 different weight classes is something I feel is overlooked especially when compared to short burning fuses such as Mcguigan .

So question for you where would you ranked Duke in UK all time list...does he break the top ten/ twenty if so why and if not why not...

Top 15 for Duke. Will work out where later.

J wrote:Firstly thanks BM for an excellent article on Duke this month. I know Duke gets alot of stick for his commentating style but we do forget what an excellent boxer he was.
World champ in 3 different weight classes is something I feel is overlooked especially when compared to short burning fuses such as Mcguigan .

So question for you where would you ranked Duke in UK all time list...does he break the top ten/ twenty if so why and if not why not...

Good question and yes he was a fantastic boxer. I doubt he makes top 10.... probably inside the top 20.

Champ in 3 weights, but two of these were for the WBO title when it was just a fledgling organisation. He never really fought and beat the true cream of the crop or have a sustained run in one division. I know we can say the same about the current P4P #1 - although I do actually think weight jumping is affecting his legacy a tadge - I think fights with Berto etc at Welter would be better for his legacy than his recent fight with Margarito as an example.

I think his defeat vs McAuley - which was pretty emphatic despite the score cards will always stick in my memory. Then he would seem to lose some fights and then get a home shot at a weaker fighter for the world title. Don't want to do him a disservice... he was a Paul Weir esque multiple time world champion, but I would have liked to have seen him against the best, or fight more abroad.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but you did ask to compare with the finest fighters we have ever produced. McGuigan's career was short and somewhat dissapointed that he didn't face the likes of Mitchell, Lopez and Nelson - but there was a short period of time when Barry did look the 2nd best in his devision. I never thought that with Duke, despite the multiple world title wins.

Had he beaten Robinson and/or McAuley - then we would be talking up for the discussion of top ten of all time.

interesting Mccann agree top 15..Stu nice points thanks

He just seems a bit underrated by many as I recall as kid he was fighting and always seemed to slip under the radar in terms of tv and recognition.

J wrote:interesting Mccann agree top 15..Stu nice points thanks

He just seems a bit underrated by many as I recall as kid he was fighting and always seemed to slip under the radar in terms of tv and recognition.

Typo there I meant he wasn't a paul weir esque.

did think that a little harsh no disrespect to Paul

Loved watching Duke fight, once at the Elephant and castle, BBC were filming his fight as I was as well, their main shot camera broke, and they had to use my copy, and it went out on BBC grandstand!!!

and your views Eric on the non filming but fistic side of things top 20 ???

my fav fight that I filmed and was not televised, Ian John Lewis against Trevor Smith, knockdowns galore terrific atmosphere

Duke was one of the boxers i used to follow closely, he really put in the work in the gym. Winning British and EBU titles, and winning on points in Italy in defense of the EBU title, something not many had done at the time.

I know he lost the world titles 3 times, but the guys that beat him then went on to have decent title reigns, so he didn't lose to no-bodys.

I remember I used to pick Duke up and take him to training in Henlow Grange, and he used to sit in the back of the car covering up as he was scared of my driving!! i am def gonna write a book on my life!!!

Does he still own massive dogs. Can remember the BBC doing a segment on him training with these massive dogs.

there was a train derailled at the back of his garden once, was in the papers!!
Dukes writing a book at the moment

Duke helped out with the Clapham Rail disaster I think.

Had a drink with him in Southsides Clapham seems like a hundred years ago but was actually about 1991!

I never saw much of him! very upright, fair dig... good, straight puncher?

Thats how I rememer him, good, straight up boxer, used the jab, good defence and had a decent dig on him, too.

Beat some good names, won a few world titles and made some defences.

His fight with Jacob was a classic.

i think his best win was vs gaby canizales. duke was supposed to be excellent, that night.

neither canizales performed well in britain, with orlando scraping by narrowly and getting a late fight battering from billy hardy.

duke's 3rd world title was supposed to be a lucky win, over benavides. but he was apparently out of sorts in losing the title to daniel jiminez, whom duke could probably have beaten if he could've maintained consistent form.

will have to check out that fight with thierry jacob if it's as good as you say.

Autobarn wrote:i think his best win was vs gaby canizales. duke was supposed to be excellent, that night.

neither canizales performed well in britain, with orlando scraping by narrowly and getting a late fight battering from billy hardy.

duke's 3rd world title was supposed to be a lucky win, over benavides. but he was apparently out of sorts in losing the title to daniel jiminez, whom duke could probably have beaten if he could've maintained consistent form.

will have to check out that fight with thierry jacob if it's as good as you say.

I would need to see more of his fights to properly judge, but was consistency an issue with Duke? I can remember him being barely recognisable in the McAuley fight to the one in the run up to it.

he just seemed like the kind of guy to win a belt then lose it in unexpectedly. obviously had to be agood fighter to keep on winning titles, though, even in the fragmented state of the sport.

not seen many of his fights. recall him spoiling and gettign broken in half vs steve robinson, duke trying for his 4th title. did you know in HELLRAISER (1st film), the andrew robinson fighter is watching a duke mckenzie fight?

Autobarn wrote:i think his best win was vs gaby canizales. duke was supposed to be excellent, that night.

That was a hell of a win at the time. Gaby had just absolutely destroyed Happy Lora in two rounds, he appeared to be in fantastic form. But he was never at the races vs Duke. Just a shame so few people saw it, that it was staged in a low-capacity leisure centre

And the Jessie Benevides fight was a good win too, and let's not forget the night he won the IBF flyweight title. Just gradually picked Bohol apart.

I think I recall 300 plus fight veteran Peter Buckley saying McKenzie was the best boxer he faced, which must count for a lot coming from him.

p.s. Eric Guy, the Smith v John-Lewis fight was an absolute belter. Then Smith goes and gets blitzed by Kirk Laing.

^^^^ aye, Buckley spoke especially of Duke's jab, which he said was 'like getting hit in the face with a broom handle'

so what happened with duke and thierry jacob in france? sounds like a tough fight for the EBU bantam title...

jacob was obviously a good fighter, going on to beat daniel zaragoza 4 fights later.

Couple of Dukes fights on my youtube channel

Duke v John Davison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZDBPD_5fWI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBnsEjZ5 ... re=related

Duke v Thierry Jacob
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaWHxkDZ ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ9h0NHc ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT5LVcSD ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aztpbyWQ ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8UjLwxq ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9uf-qw7 ... re=related

Duke v Charlie Magri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9uf-qw7 ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQufmXG ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpr2tTZI ... re=related

I've got a vague memory that he flew to America to fight Wayne McCullough and got sent back by immigration. Anyone else remember? I'd say his best win might have been beating young, ambitious Cesar Soto at the Latchmere Leisure Centre, talk about low key! He was just too smart and disciplined for the Mexican. Soto had a good run afterwards and then had that horrible fight with Naz.