BoxRec

Saturday night I saw the replay of the great Roberto Duran win over Iran Barkley. It was an unbelievable slugfest. I saw this time, even at 37, a much quicker Duran than previous fights at 160. To me, it was a miracle win. Another fight or rematch, Duran loses against this guy that was younger, faster, taller and much stronger than he. He was supposed to KO Duran in 6 rounds, according to KO magazine, and he almost did it in rounds 7 and 8, but Duran somehow was still there.

When I saw that Duran won, I said that this guy got to be in the top 5 greatest fighters. No doubt. I have not seen nothing like it. Was there ever a win of a supposedly shot fighter, considered totally finished, win against someone that had over him all those physical and age advantages?

Maybe the great George Foreman over Michael Moorer comes to mind, but at least Foreman was way bigger and hit harder.
Or the great Evander Holyfield vs the great Mike Tyson is another. But at least, Evander was as big as Iron Mike.

I did not see an advantage for Duran in that fight, other than EXPERIENCE. Was there another win like it? A win that we could compare to it?

another great one was duran vs davey moore ,duran had been beat by benitez and kirkland laing and moore was an unbeaten young world champ who was much bigger than duran . if you like the barkley fight you will love this one to ,duran was like an animal in the fight .

holyfield vs tyson was similar . holyfield had been beat by moorer and ko'd by bowe and his brawling style was considered taylor made for tyson .....and we all know what happened

Not many like that, with moving up so much weight and triumphing against a champion. Eder Jofres run after being defeated by Fighting Harada is pretty impressive though.

Not a win but Mickey Walker's draw with Sharkey must be up there...

In 1903, 20 yr old Sam Langford defeated Hall of Famer Joe Gans at Lightweight via a 15 rd decision. Almost 18 yrs later, the now 38 yr old Langford scored a 1st round stoppage of Hall of Famer George Godfrey at Heavyweight.

Seamus wrote:In 1903, 20 yr old Sam Langford defeated Hall of Famer Joe Gans at Lightweight via a 15 rd decision. Almost 18 yrs later, the now 38 yr old Langford scored a 1st round stoppage of Hall of Famer George Godfrey at Heavyweight.

Hey, that is a good one. A great win. Are there any others?

Seamus wrote:In 1903, 20 yr old Sam Langford defeated Hall of Famer Joe Gans at Lightweight via a 15 rd decision. Almost 18 yrs later, the now 38 yr old Langford scored a 1st round stoppage of Hall of Famer George Godfrey at Heavyweight.

That is why always rated the great Sam Langford at the top 3 pound per pound all-time. A great resume that it was a shame that he never became a world champion. What a fighter.

You have to go a long, long way back...

Ezzard wrote:You have to go a long, long way back...

It looks like yes. A long way back.

One of the closest of these times (comparing Duran's win over Barkley) was the great Ruben Olivares win over Bobby Chacon. Olivares fighting in a weight class that could not dominate like in bantamweight, beat a terrific young champion after being considered by the Mexican press washed up. Olivares was just 28 years old. He knocked Bobby, one of my favorite warriors, in 2 rounds.

elmersalsa wrote:

Ezzard wrote:You have to go a long, long way back...

It looks like yes. A long way back.

One of the closest of these times (comparing Duran's win over Barkley) was the great Ruben Olivares win over Bobby Chacon. Olivares fighting in a weight class that could not dominate like in bantamweight, beat a terrific young champion after being considered by the Mexican press washed up. Olivares was just 28 years old. He knocked Bobby, one of my favorite warriors, in 2 rounds.

I think, still, does not match Duran's

elmersalsa wrote:

Ezzard wrote:You have to go a long, long way back...

It looks like yes. A long way back.

One of the closest of these times (comparing Duran's win over Barkley) was the great Ruben Olivares win over Bobby Chacon. Olivares fighting in a weight class that could not dominate like in bantamweight, beat a terrific young champion after being considered by the Mexican press washed up. Olivares was just 28 years old. He knocked Bobby, one of my favorite warriors, in 2 rounds.

Chacon was totally weight drained for that fight. A walking dead man entering the ring. Spent many an hour in the sauna the night before just trying to make 126.
Of course Chacon's questionable training practices contributed to his weight problems. Was a party guy who didn't take a work ethic too seriously until the later part of his career.

Make no mistake, even though his man was the challenger, when Don King brought Gerald McClellan over to the UK to fight Nigel Benn almost everybody was predicting that Nigel would get steam-rollered by the G-Man in double quick time. As Nigel said himself "they've brought him here to beat me up". What followed was one of the most compelling nights in boxing's wonderful history.

Full fight including build-up. Obviously the tragic conclusion is unpleasant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr24cH--0k

Aden wrote:Make no mistake, even though his man was the challenger, when Don King brought Gerald McClellan over to the UK to fight Nigel Benn almost everybody was predicting that Nigel would get steam-rollered by the G-Man in double quick time. As Nigel said himself "they've brought him here to beat me up". What followed was one of the most compelling nights in boxing's wonderful history.

Full fight including build-up. Obviously the tragic conclusion is unpleasant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr24cH--0k

Agree on all that but Benn hadn't been lightweight champion for the best part of a decade when he took on G-Man

Fair one. I take and agree with your point.

What about James Toney vs Vasily Jirov? I sometimes think that JT doesn't get the credit he deserves for that win because a lot of people were ignorant to just how good Jirov was and because of the lack of interest and awareness of the cruiserweight division in the US.

Aden wrote:Fair one. I take and agree with your point.

What about James Toney vs Vasily Jirov? I sometimes think that JT doesn't get the credit he deserves for that win because a lot of people were ignorant to just how good Jirov was and because of the lack of interest and awareness of the cruiserweight division in the US.

pretty good call

Counter-puncher wrote:

Aden wrote:Fair one. I take and agree with your point.

What about James Toney vs Vasily Jirov? I sometimes think that JT doesn't get the credit he deserves for that win because a lot of people were ignorant to just how good Jirov was and because of the lack of interest and awareness of the cruiserweight division in the US.

pretty good call

Pretty close, but, still does not match Duran's win.

Ezzard wrote:

Aden wrote:Make no mistake, even though his man was the challenger, when Don King brought Gerald McClellan over to the UK to fight Nigel Benn almost everybody was predicting that Nigel would get steam-rollered by the G-Man in double quick time. As Nigel said himself "they've brought him here to beat me up". What followed was one of the most compelling nights in boxing's wonderful history.

Full fight including build-up. Obviously the tragic conclusion is unpleasant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMr24cH--0k

Agree on all that but Benn hadn't been lightweight champion for the best part of a decade when he took on G-Man

Ten years before Barkley, Duran was a lightweight.

Ten years before McClellan, Benn was either a welterweight or a heavyweight (take your pick), novice amateur.

The weight disparity is roughly the same, although god knows what he weighed when boxing at heavyweight...however the skill disparity is a mile apart. You couldn't get any further apart. A guy who is generally regarded as the ATG 1 or 2 in the sport @ lightweight vs a guy who hadn't even won regional ABA titles. No contest.

Aden wrote:Fair one. I take and agree with your point.

What about James Toney vs Vasily Jirov? I sometimes think that JT doesn't get the credit he deserves for that win because a lot of people were ignorant to just how good Jirov was and because of the lack of interest and awareness of the cruiserweight division in the US.

Toney was about 3 years younger. On the other hand, Toney had to beat a better opponent. Both were nice wins.

One fight that came to mind was Virgil Hill winning a cruiserweight belt by KOing Tiozza in 2000. Hill was going on 37, and he had lost his light heavyweight title to Michalczewski and then got KO'd ugly by Roy Jones in 4. I remember thinking Hill had retired when he beat Tiozza, who was 31 at the time (and would go on to KO Michaelczewski five years later)

One of those things...I thought Tiozzo was going to win that going in.....just shows that some fighters have other fighters numbers...no matter what.

Aden wrote:Fair one. I take and agree with your point.

What about James Toney vs Vasily Jirov? I sometimes think that JT doesn't get the credit he deserves for that win because a lot of people were ignorant to just how good Jirov was and because of the lack of interest and awareness of the cruiserweight division in the US.

Good point.that fight is the same thing.toney just does not does not get his due.and the last 4 years he has tarnished his legacy.no one gives him credit.it's such a shame he was stripped v Ruiz.otherwise I think he would have exposed the klitchkos.he was that good up to 2006

James is a polarizing figure. But anyone doing a fair skill inventory would have to count him as a great. I would agree Jirov was a good win for him.