Thread: When studying Roberto Duran fights, what skills to pay attention to?

I want to study Roberto Duran fights to understand why he is considered such a great boxer. Can anyone tell me what skills he does really well and what to pay attention to when watching his fights?

I want to learn what I can about his style to see if they are applicable to me.

Originally Posted by mozilla2004

I want to study Roberto Duran fights to understand why he is considered such a great boxer. Can anyone tell me what skills he does really well and what to pay attention to when watching his fights?

I want to learn what I can about his style to see if they are applicable to me.

It's fair to assume that you aren't anything like Robero Duran

He was very great at rolling with punches and killing the body.

He's just does a lot of things right...
Look at his lateral movements, his foot work and the way he cut's off the ring.

He's was very fluid, I think his defence gets underated sometimes, slipped and rolled with shots very well. Great offensive fighter(one of the best IMO) had dynamite in both hands(could knock u out with either ) was a vicious body puncher too. When he was a lightweight a he was an unstoppable force of nature, just like a typhoon comin at u relentlesly. Don't get it twisted tho, he wasn't no one dimensional brawler, he had great boxing ability, not of the purist kind, but it was there. truly a special fighter.

Bit of a strange thread especially the last comment. But IMO he had some of the best defense ever, for an aggressive fighter. He would roll with punches and make you miss so easily, especially considering how aggressive he was. You'd think he was very hittable.

Other things that stand out is obviously the mans fighting spirit. He was literally a force in the ring, every punch he threw he would grit his teeth. I also loved the way he would cut off the ring, many aggressive fighters should take some notes. On Roberto Duran about the art of cutting off the ring.

Finally the most amazing thing that stood out for me, is that when he was a Lightweight. He handled one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time in sparring Rocky Balboa.

Originally Posted by ICB

Bit of a strange thread especially the last comment. But IMO he had some of the best defense ever, for an aggressive fighter. He would roll with punches and make you miss so easily, especially considering how aggressive he was. You'd think he was very hittable.

Other things that stand out is obviously the mans fighting spirit. He was literally a force in the ring, every punch he threw he would grit his teeth. I also loved the way he would cut off the ring, many aggressive fighters should take some notes. On Roberto Duran about the art of cutting off the ring.

Finally the most amazing thing that stood out for me, is that when he was a Lightweight. He handled one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time in sparring Rocky Balboa.

I remember debating with you about Duran a couple of years ago and you weren't that impressed. Fair play for going and watching more of him and changing your mind!

Originally Posted by ICB

Finally the most amazing thing that stood out for me, is that when he was a Lightweight. He handled one of the greatest Heavyweights of all time in sparring Rocky Balboa.

I only realised this when they started re-running the Rocky Films on Freeview!

I need to go watch me some Duran.

There are so many things, but watch the lateral movement on the inside, the little shifts in his body to make space to get shots off, watch his timing on the outside, and his upper body movement, he was very good at almost stutter stepping in and catching opponent off guard because they thought he was feinting a rush. THere are just too many things a boxer does to really pinpoint all the things you need/should be watching for, IMO you should watch with a trainer who's willing to sit down and watch some film with you because he is doing so many little things that made him special. The only thing I wish he had was a little better jab, but his was still quite excellent.

Duran as someone pointed out rolled with the punches often causing an opponent to rethink his strategy because here was this monster in front of him. Duran's speed is hardly ever noticed because of his seemingly non stop forward approach but if you look closely at his side to side movement coupled with his ability to cut the space between himself and his opponents he looks like he's boxing when he's pounding the hell out of someone. He was always busy.

Because he was such a devastating puncher...many things about Duran often get overlooked. As people have mentioned...his defense was underrated...especially considering what a tremendous offense he had. His overall skill and fluidity where also sometimes overlooked because he seemed to like to "brawl" so much. And finally...the guy was just a flat out amazing athlete (check out some of his jump roping and speed bag vids from back in the day). Add to that his huge personality...just a LEGENDARY fighter.

I loved the way he would roll jabs and counter with an overhand right. He hurt Leonard badly in the Brawl doing this, landed some sweet ones on Barkley and off the top of my head I think it was the same move that started an onslaught that got a running Lou Bizzaro out of there. He was also great at pulling back from punches while on the inside as well. Duran had a great sense of ruthless economy in the way he fought. Like everyone has pointed out, even though he was a great brawler at heart he was still a trained boxer. He also knew what rythym to fight at. At Lightweight he was a manic ball of energy but as he went up in weight he had the savvy and wits to know that he would have to rely more on boxing, pacing his rounds and looking for an oppurtunity to unleash rather than just trying to force his will against bigger stronger opponents.

I am reading his life story as we speak and there isn't much credit given to his defensive skills(well except from you guy's on this topic) HE had tremndous power at lightweight and just overall skill. As he moved up in weight his power somewhat diminished but his boxing prowness was amazing. Like many have said all you have to do is watch the first Leonard fight and you will say " Oh I get it now ". Extremely hard to hit on the chin with a punch and that is not taught it is a natural ability that someone just has. Tremendous skills in cutting the ring off to where Leonard would find himself on the ropes fighting Duran's rough battle on the inside.

Originally Posted by The Fightfan

I am reading his life story as we speak and there isn't much credit given to his defensive skills(well except from you guy's on this topic) HE had tremndous power at lightweight and just overall skill. As he moved up in weight his power somewhat diminished but his boxing prowness was amazing. Like many have said all you have to do is watch the first Leonard fight and you will say " Oh I get it now ". Extremely hard to hit on the chin with a punch and that is not taught it is a natural ability that someone just has. Tremendous skills in cutting the ring off to where Leonard would find himself on the ropes fighting Duran's rough battle on the inside.

its a great book that mate

Well how about the intangibles?

He got inside almost every single one of his opponents heads.. He could bring someone to the blistering pace he would sometimes like to fight at. People have said that he was a great puncher, but Duran was an even better finisher. He didn't just look for the big shot, he would soften you up downstairs and then take it upstairs when he knew you couldn't bend at the waist any longer.

Duran had a rock hard chin. His style of fighting is not for the feint of heart. Yes, he rolled with some punches, but he also took them. Watch the rematch of Duran De Jesus. De Jesus lifts him off the ground with this hook uppercut in the first round. And, Duran gets right back up and takes it to the man who had taken his lone loss from him.

Duran was a gym junkie. He also was huge in the ring. He could cut enormous amounts of weight for fights. Duran the tactician (post SRL and Hearns losses) was very different fighter. He adjusted very well and took it to his opponents big or small. But it showed what a marvelous fighter he always was when he moved up thru 147-168 becoming the gatekeeper to almost every division he touched.

All hail the greatest LW fighter ever.