BoxRec

Was there any reaosn Duran fought on till he was what? 51? Im not doubting he was moderatley competative right up to the end of his career, but im wondering if there were financial reasons for the prolonged career, or was it simply all he knew.

Are there any autobiographies / biographies of the great man? Any reccomendations?

I heard this one is good...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Stone-Leg ... 1903854555

Wales wrote:im wondering if there were financial reasons for the prolonged career...

I think you've pretty much answered your own question.

I have a couple of Duran documentaries from a long time ago on VHS. I do want to get hold of a copy of 'Fists of a Nation'.

Here is the trailer:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw7NdjIm_c8

I didnt even know he was in rocky!

johnswan1 wrote:I heard this one is good...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Stone-Leg ... 1903854555

I can confirm that biography is an absolute belter.

Dont present it to Manos de Piedra for signing though - he is bitter it is so successful despite being without his consent - he doesnt see a bean from the sales and therefore wont sign copies..

Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

I'm reading the book at the moment, and it's very good. Not quite Paul Briggs or Johnny Tapia level of quality, but still very good.

Just got past his Buchanan fight.

Refreshingly, the biographer doesn't write things as though they are facts, but actually manages to give all sides of the story as the impression I get is that Duran likes to tell a tale or too. Pretty much everything he says is disabgreed with by the other parties.

However Panamanian boxing is hardly known for its angels.

Wales wrote:I didnt even know he was in rocky!

Neither did I mate until I watched it on DVD a couple of months ago. Dirk looked at me like I farted. Glad I wasn't the only one.

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Sammy Mendelson wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Can't belive how much he's changed lately. I hardly recognised him when I saw him.

Put on ALOT of weight.

Wales wrote:Was there any reaosn Duran fought on till he was what? 51? Im not doubting he was moderatley competative right up to the end of his career, but im wondering if there were financial reasons for the prolonged career, or was it simply all he knew.

Are there any autobiographies / biographies of the great man? Any reccomendations?

Once Emerson has finished with it, I'll send it to you for a read. God knows when he'll finish it, think he's struggling with the long words and lack of pictures.

I thought it was better than the Paul Briggs and Tapia books.

Duran was an fornicating amazing fighter.

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Is that right? didn't Joppy have him down?

Dirk Kelly wrote:

Wales wrote:Was there any reaosn Duran fought on till he was what? 51? Im not doubting he was moderatley competative right up to the end of his career, but im wondering if there were financial reasons for the prolonged career, or was it simply all he knew.

Are there any autobiographies / biographies of the great man? Any reccomendations?

Once Emerson has finished with it, I'll send it to you for a read. God knows when he'll finish it, think he's struggling with the long words and lack of pictures.

I thought it was better than the Paul Briggs and Tapia books.

No way, Tapia has had a more interesting life. Even if he was so off his face he couldn't remember who he beat and was floored by.

Sam, if you don't wanna buy the Tapia one wait and I'll send it for you with the Duran book Dirk will be sending (once I finish looking at the pretty pictures). I'll try and bang it out over Xmas.

Cheers lads, I'll read 'em and send them back.

Much appreciated!!

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

I dont want to split hairs but Hernandez had Duran down in his fight prior to the Joppy match!.... 8)

Sammy Mendelson wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Yes, and by God did Hearns put him down. Hearn's loved the short, come forward Hispanics. Hard men's hard men Duran and Cuevas were both turned into limp pools of jelly by Hearns who looked utterly irrisistible on both occassions. He had an underrated left hook to the body, and the right he put Duran out with may have been the biggest pound for pound punch in history.

Sammy Mendelson wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Tommy was a 'steppin razor' that night - he couldnt have been any sharper or more accurate.

The right hand he dumped Duran with at the end of the opener was dynamite and it could be said the finishing shot was the crispest, truest right hand ever thrown.

There is a decent, clean copy of the fight on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG5H0yTk ... re=related

Carbo wrote:

Sammy Mendelson wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Yes, and by God did Hearns put him down. Hearn's loved the short, come forward Hispanics. Hard men's hard men Duran and Cuevas were both turned into limp pools of jelly by Hearns who looked utterly irrisistible on both occassions. He had an underrated left hook to the body, and the right he put Duran out with may have been the biggest pound for pound punch in history.

I have both the Hearns-Duran and Hearns-Cuevas fights in my collection and never tire of watching them. That right hand he did Duran with was phenomenal. Apart from his power and reach, Hearns' hand speed was amazing.

silkov wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

I dont want to split hairs but Hernandez had Duran down in his fight prior to the Joppy match!.... 8)

Can't be. Stick it on youtube.

TerribleTerry wrote:

Sammy Mendelson wrote:

bennie wrote:Great defence; great chin. In 33 years as a pro, only Hearns and De Jesus put him down.

Which just goes to show what a banger the 'Motor City Cobra' was. Duran went down as if hit by a sniper's bullet.

Tommy was a 'steppin razor' that night - he couldnt have been any sharper or more accurate.

The right hand he dumped Duran with at the end of the opener was dynamite and it could be said the finishing shot was the crispest, truest right hand ever thrown.

There is a decent, clean copy of the fight on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG5H0yTk ... re=related

Like, you say, Hearns was well and truly ready for that fight. Every time I watch it back, his right hand hypnotizes me. You just see it cocked, ready to be fired and BANG!! Awesome.

I adore Duran and never allow myself to forget, he was a prime lightweight. All his achievements north of that division were gravy.

The Duran/Hearns fight isn't pleasant viewing - Duran looked woeful in that fight, where as Hearns was at the top of his game.

Devastating knockout though.

wasn't duran nasty to hearns before the fight, think he even insulted hearns wife at the time. Hearns certainly was fired up come fight time.

Twinkle Toes wrote:The Duran/Hearns fight isn't pleasant viewing - Duran looked woeful in that fight, where as Hearns was at the top of his game.

Devastating knockout though.

Not an even match physically, its like asking Ricky Hatton to fight Kelly Pavlik or Joe Calzaghe.

I find it quite sad when you bang in 'Roberto Duran' on youtube and the first thing that comes up is the Hearns fight, and the Hearns fight again, and yet again. One idiot has even posted it in retro style. A boxing great is worth more than that. Duran took on Tommy for the money in a 'superfight' which always lacked something. "If Reg [Gutteridge] ain't here, this fight don't mean shit," commentator Jim Rosenthal was told beforehand. And 33-year-old Duran fought like a man who knew he hadn't trained. He was aggressive and reckless, and that was horribly new from a man who could keep the pressure on whilst slipping punches like nobody else in the modern era. "It's time to have some fun," said Duran after the inevitable knockout defeat. "Some good clean fun."
It was time to eat.
Tax problems forced the Panamanian legend back, but 37-year-old Duran still had enough left to outlast Iran Barkley in a snowstorm in February 1989 - a man who twice licked Hearns - and kept on fighting because he knew nothing else. He would still be fighting today but for lung injuries sustained in a car crash in Argentina in 2001. He was simply born to fight.
You know, Duran lost only one of his first 72 fights to the dangerous and massively underrated Esteban De Jesus (points), a loss twice avenged by knockout. His weakness to 'runners' was ruthlessly exposed by Sugar Leonard in their infamous rematch in New Orleans in 1980, but Duran came back to secure redemption, as he did throughout his later pro years.
And Duran is largely remembered for those later years - for the bad nights; for a few good nights - even though he was simply unbeatable as world lightweight champion in the 1970s. His 12 challengers didn't even come to win: they came to survive. He licked world class opponents like Emiliano Villa, Edwin Viruet and Saoul Mamby in warm-ups.
As with Sugar Ray Robinson, Duran was only touchable when he hit 30 and moved up in weight.