BoxRec

I still consider Duran's win one of the greatest feats in modern day sports.

SRL was young, faster, stronger and just about the last person a lighter fighter stepping up would want to challenge. I watch the bout now and am still amazed at how Duran makes him miss again and again even though he is standing right next to him.

I'm a big fan of both fighters. The other 2 fights don't really match up. SRL was never going to stand his ground in the rematch (note how Leonard never gave anyone a rematch unless they were past it and he was sure he could win), and the 3rd was just an easy pay day for SRL. i read (maybe on this forum) that Leonard suffered a crisis in confidence after the first fight and needed constant reassuring that he was better than Duran.

Anyway, I was 8 when they fought and not a boxing fan at that time. What was it like for those of you who saw the fight? What was the common beliefs regarding the two fighters and the performance that night? Duran seems like a man posessed at the end running around the ring proclaiming victory. Also, can anyone shed any light on the idea that Duran could speak English but chose not to interviews to maintain his mystique?

Come on, I know there are plenty of you who were watching, what are your thoughts on what happened?

I saw that fight via closed circuit in a sold out venue with no air conditioning. It was June 20th, 1980, a Friday night. I remember the crowd seemed very pro Duran and quite vocal about it. The main thing I remember about the fight was when Duran drilled Leonard in the second round sending him into the ropes. The Duran fans exploded and were up on their feet screaming. By the time the fight ended I was drenched in sweat and my shirt was caked to my torso. I started heading for the exit before the decision was even announced because I figured the powder keg of 14,000 fight fans crammed into a suana was going to explode no matter what the outcome.

The fight itself was highly anticapted, one of those rare fights that generated interest not just from fight and sports fans, but from the overall public in general. A lot of folks thought Sugar Ray had the edge because Duran was moving up in weight.

As for Duran not speaking English, I have never heard that story before, but I assume he is able to speak it to some degree after all these years. The last I heard he was living in the San Francisco area.

The build up to that fight was like no other fight before or since for a non heavyweight title fight. Everyday for over a month leading up to the fight they had something on the news about it, showing past fights that Duran and SRL had and how SRL was this Olympic gold medalist turned pro who was the world welterweight champion. I was a big Duran fan and went to an arena for a closed circuit showing, the largest possible place to host this event in my area Vancouver Canada at this time. It was sold out I went with about 20 buddies (all boxers) and the place was stoked, SRL fans and Duran fans, we were all Duran fans. I just remember the emotion at the time in the place, it was held in Montreal Canada (people thought that SRL wanted this edge as it being the place where he won his gold medal). Duran being the first in the ring and looking like he was ready for battle, SRL looking a bit uncertain. Durans emotion, his passion truley showed that night, his conditioning was tremendous as was SRL's, seeing as he took alot of body, and head shots from Duran. Duran controlled the fight for the most part, when SRL tried to flurry when he had his back to the ropes Duran would slip and slid away from his punches and then dig in with his own which more often then not would score. The thing I remember is Durans ability to make SRL, who the press and all the experts at the time were saying was to fast for Duran, miss so much by just a fraction of an inch or second. He truley showed the world that night that pound for pound he was the best of the best.
At the end he was so charged up I remember seeing him going to the edge of the ring apron after the bell had rung to end the fight and grabbing his crotch and gesturing toward someone, the American press tried to say that he was doing this to SRL's wife but he was doing it to Wilfredo Benitez (whom he hated) who was dating SRL's sister at the time who was sitting with SRL's wife at ringside.
An amazing spectacle this fight, such emotion on Durans part wanting to prove to the world that he was the best, and he did, forget the shit that happened 4 or 5 months later in new orleans, that night in Montreal they both showed up at their best and the best man won.

cheers M.O.

Thanks lumpy and DM. These memories are priceless. I think this is my all time fave fight because of the two personalities inolved. I also had to give a lot of respect to SRL because he kept at it for the whole fight even when Duran was dishing it out to him.

I saw the crotch grabbing by Duran. It was typical of his machismo. The way he strides around the ring afetr the final bell is a very charged image.

I was worried nobody would reply to this post. It's one thing to watch a fight from the past (still thrilling) but quite another to watch it live even on CCTV. Hope there's a few more more fo you out there with memories to share.

I went with my dad to a theater like place to see it on closed circuit,black and white with no sound!It was still cool though,my dad was a huge Duran fan so naturally so was I and if there were 10 people there cheering for Leonard I never saw or heard them.Duran was unstoppable on that night but Leonard,who I have always hated but never have denied his greatness,gave a damn good account of himself.It was a close fight,kind of like Barrera-Morales 1 in that despite it being close one guy obviously won.Anybody remember that one judge scored 10! rounds even(I'm not making this up).Talk about a monument to indecision!

Yes I think I remember something to about that where one judge obviously could not make up his mind. I remember thinking that this guy was obviously in SRL's corner but just could'nt get himself to give the rounds to Duran so he did the next best thing which was a draw. Fuckin moron, I also remember how Carlos Padilla I think was the ref's name how he allowed SRL to hold so much, it really took away from the fight.
I think that if done properly and penalized SRL for this at the start Duran would have had a good chance of K.O.ing him as Duran was the one with so much fire and desire. SRL took alot of good shots but he would have taken alot more if not for all the holding. He also was leaning on Duran alot when Duran got close and worked the body, he would lean over on top of him pushing him down when doing so. Duran was so cagey that he just allowed SRL to do so and he did'nt fight it and waste energy doing so. At the very end of the fight the last minute of the 15th round Duran offered his chin to SRL taunting him to knock him out, then fired away a jab or two at SRL while circling him. Classic stuff, SRL tried to do a repeat of this shit during the second fight, repaying Duran for this humiliation he received in the first encounter, second hand news no originality. Like I said before, this night june 20th 1980 both of them were at the top of their game, and we all know who was the best that evening.

cheers M.O.

many thanks again. Hope there are more fo you out there willing to share your memories.

Oh the memories

Was a big admirer of SRL but Duran was my idol.

Watched it live, and it still ranks as one of the best fights I've seen.

Duran outsmarted, outboxed and in the end taught Leonard a lesson.

I agree with elmersala on the Barkley fight though. That night in Montreal goes down in history as his finest hour but for me to come back from "No Mas" and the troubles that followed to take Barkley was in my eyes incredible.

Manos De Piedra a legend

The leadup interest to that fight was immense. I remember that it seemed too good to be true...Leonard and Duran were actually going to fight! This was in the pre-Tyson days, as opposed to the post-Tyson days, when a great fight, including the leadup, was front page news.

Uhm, the fight matched the hype (similar to Leonard-Hearns, which was also MUCH anticipated, although just a shade less than Duran-Leonard...Duran was already established, of course, but Hearns burst onto the scene in a very big way, almost overnight, when he destroyed Cuevas).

Everybody talked about that fight, on a par with Ali-Foreman or Foreman-Frazier.

Ezzard wrote: Also, can anyone shed any light on the idea that Duran could speak English but chose not to interviews to maintain his mystique?

Well I had the GREAT honour of meeting Roberto Duran about two years ago and spending a few minutes talking with him. He had a translator with him who said Roberto could understand English very well, but was not very good when it came to speaking it.

As for the first Duran - Leonard fight. I to was too young to remember it the first time around but of course have it on tape. Duran that night was as much a force of nature than a fighter that night. People say Leonard chose the wrong tactics that night which in part may be true but I think it was more of a case of Duran forcing Leonard to fight his fight.

I think it was in the second round Duarn badly hurt Leonard with a left hook(?). If Leonard had been able to dance around that night surely that would have been his wake-up call? Duran was in Leonards face all night, beating him to the jab, slipping Leonards shots like no other fighter ever did and punishing Leonard to the body and head.


The infamous 'no mas' rematch was lost for Duran before the fight even began due to Durans crazy methods of making the weight. From what I have heard Duran was something like 200lbs when he went into training camp for the rematch due to heavy partying. He didn't have enough time to get down to 147lbs by just training hard.

For about two days before the weigh-in he ate and drank almost nothing apart from laxatives to make the weight. After the weigh-in the first thing he did was eat about TWO large steak and potatoe meals straight after each other resting only to drink pints of fruit juice. He then finished that off with eating some more fruit.

By the time fight time came the mixture of laxatives and binge eating had given the great Duran the mpther of all stomach aches. He tried his best early on but the stomach cramps were too much to content with along with Leonards shots to body and head. I believe he quit that night because I believe he felt another hard shot to the body and he would not have been responsible for the behavour of his bowels.

Leonard was stupid in the first fight, he fought Durans fight as though he felt that he had to prove himself the harder, rather than boxing and moving as he should have done. The second fight showed the diffence in styles, and the superiority of SRL's skills, Duran was a one dimensional fighter like Hagler was and couldn't adapt to SRL's style.
The third fight was crap, just a payday for two aging fighters.

revporl wrote:Duran was a one dimensional fighter like Hagler was and couldn't adapt to SRL's style.

Do you really think great fighters like Duran and Hagler are one dimensional?

I think thats a bit strong to be honest.

Not a bad effort from the one dimensional lightweight Duran against the welterweight Leonard. Would have been great to have seen the one dimensional Duran KO Leonard in round 2

KOJOE90 wrote:

revporl wrote:Duran was a one dimensional fighter like Hagler was and couldn't adapt to SRL's style.

Do you really think great fighters like Duran and Hagler are one dimensional?

I think thats a bit strong to be honest.

I completely agree,that's ridiculous.Hagler,in his prime, could box or brawl,he boxed guys like Hamsho and tore into Minter and Hearns, and while Duran was no Willie Pep he was pretty good defensively
when he wanted to be,much harder to hit than he looked,Leonard even said after their first fight he couldn't believe how hard Duran was to hit,and that was with Duran in his face all night,Leonard didn't exactly have to look for him.

[quote="revporl"]Leonard was stupid in the first fight, he fought Durans fight as though he felt that he had to prove himself the harder, rather than boxing and moving as he should have done. The second fight showed the diffence in styles, and the superiority of SRL's skills, Duran was a one dimensional fighter like Hagler was and couldn't adapt to SRL's style. quote]

An obviously uneducated remark, anyone who knows, has boxed before would know that these two were anything but "one dimensional"!

SRL did'nt have much choice in the first fight, and besides standing and fighting was SRL's style. Watch his fights with Wilfred Benitez, Davey "boy" Green, Andy Price, Pete Ranzany you will see what style SRL had. He was no dancer, at the most when he had to he hopped around the ring ie. against Hagler, Hearns #1 the first 5 or so rounds. He was a flat footed fighter(he stood his ground and punched) with great hand speed, and good foot work, he made adjustments, side to side, he didn't dance. Against Duran the night of june 20th 1980 Duran cut off the ring all night, he was a master at that, and cutting off the ring is no easy task, especially with a 20' ring and only being welterweights (the second fight was a 25 foot ring). Infighting is a skill, and few know it, and chewed up opponents as well as Hands of stone did.
Duran nullified SRL's hand speed and movement with his greater boxing skills, you think he was one dimensional watch his third fight with Esteban Dejesus, one dimensional...

cheers M.O.

KOJOE90 wrote:

The infamous 'no mas' rematch was lost for Duran before the fight even began due to Durans crazy methods of making the weight. From what I have heard Duran was something like 200lbs when he went into training camp for the rematch due to heavy partying. He didn't have enough time to get down to 147lbs by just training hard.

For about two days before the weigh-in he ate and drank almost nothing apart from laxatives to make the weight. After the weigh-in the first thing he did was eat about TWO large steak and potatoe meals straight after each other resting only to drink pints of fruit juice. He then finished that off with eating some more fruit.

By the time fight time came the mixture of laxatives and binge eating had given the great Duran the mpther of all stomach aches. He tried his best early on but the stomach cramps were too much to content with along with Leonards shots to body and head. I believe he quit that night because I believe he felt another hard shot to the body and he would not have been responsible for the behavour of his bowels.

Thanks KOJOE

There were reports of stomach cramps. I think Duran suffered a lot after "no mas". He couldn't offer an excuse because that wasn't his way but there's no doubt that he was down psychologically for a long time. Redemption came with the Davey Moore fight. The Iran Barkley win was just unimaginable. I still don't know how Duran managed to get himself up for another huge effort.

I'm still loving the memories of this great fight. BUT anyone who thinks Duran and Hagler were 1 dimensional figthers doesn't know boxing.

After "No mas" Duran came close to a nervous breakdown.

A subsequent loss to Benitez and then against Kirkland Laing (Ring Magazine upset of 1982) didn't do much for his esteem.

blasting out Cuevas and then again Davey Moore helped resurrect some pride.

But it wasn't until Barkey that Duran vindicated "No Mas".

As I have posted elsewhere on here duran ballooned to almost 200lbs between fights and the sudden weight loss prior to the New Orleans fight ripped the edge out of him. The combination of laxatives and then sudden eating again would cause cramps in anyone never mind someone preparing for a world title fight.

Not even the Hagler fight helped his image, but after Barkley ppl started to forgive him for "No mas".

But to pronounce him as one dimensional is crazy. He was a master boxer and a fantastic finisher.

Hagler was the same, I watched Hagler change from southpaw to orthodox and back depending on how a fight was going. I've seem him win fights with KO's from either hand.

These guys come along only once in a while, and they are a pleasure to watch.

Think you're spot on Gordon regarding Hagler and Duran.

They were also both master tacticians. I truly believe that Duran fought a brilliant fight against Hagler, he was just too small and too old to win the fight. I think it was this fight that prompted SRL to make a comeback. Duran fought a great fight against Ray in the first fight and Hagler. He got blasted out by Hearns but again he was just too small. Hagler could climb all over Tommy in a way that Duran simply couldn't.

I also think DeJesus and Lampkin are underrated fighters and both could have been champions at other times.

I still think that Duran-Leonard was a great moment in sport and boxing.

Revporl Still waiting for you to back up your statement about these two classic fighters, in case you forgot Duran and Hagler!
one dimensional?

cheers M.O.[/b]

lumpymo wrote:SRL did'nt have much choice in the first fight,.

I agree 100%

For years I thought the result of the first fight was mainly due to Leonard adopting the wrong tactics. But over the last 20/15 years as I have picked up more tapes of both fighters fights I have changed my mind.

Duran won the first fight because he was, on that night the better fighter.