Re: Watching duran
Originally Posted by
marbleheadmaui
I sat and rewatched three Duran fights last night and, as always,Manos de Piedra opens eyes. The three fights were the second fight with Esteban de Jesus, Ray Lampkin and the first fight with Ray Leonard. The de Jesus fight is Duran very close to his absolute peak. Very, very fit at lightweight. The Lampkin fight is Duran less prepared but still excellent and the Leonard fight is him above his best weight but perhaps at his most elemental and savage. Here are some things I noticed.
1) Duran's Extraordinary Feet-It is true in all three fights, but most obvious in the de Jesus fight. Duran NEVER just stands in front of his foe. Once he lands a single shot he is suddenly somewhere else and throwing more shots. He fights in an arc around the other fighter. For example, if he lands a single shot while standing head to head, he moves, often to his right and is now opposite the foe's left shoulder where he throws a short right or a left hook and moves again! Other times he will take a short step to the left which usually means a left to the body, left to the head combination and another move. Duran's angles of attack are created by incredibly quick feet.
2) Overall Body Movement-Once Duran is in punching range, everything about him is moving. He is rolling his fists like the old timers. His upper body snaps back and forth taking his head with it. As I noted above his feet are always on the go. This amalgamation of movement is very tough to coordinate, very deceiving and difficult to counter. In the Lampkin fight, Duran's lower level of fitness means his feet aren't quite as good so his upper body movement becomes more prominent and noticeable. Jab, upper body rolls right, right hand, upper body weaves left, left hooks to the body and the head, feet move him out of the way. Not only is this approach offensively effective but they are defensively crucial as well. Duran's head is always moving and even when he is hit he is normally rolling with it.
3) Variety of Attack-In the De Jesus fight Duran is primarily a counterpuncher, in the Lampkin fight he is a stalker and in the Leonard fight he is the brawler. Even within those three styles Duran has substyles. But they share a couple of traits. Duran punches in no pattern except what works in that particular situation. Duran could throw every punch there is, in any order you ask, from any angle he found advantageous. He rarely throws a single punch or even two. If one of the first two lands? Look out, here comes the shifting angle and 2-3 more punches and then another angle change and 2-3 more. By the time he's done with a single exchange Duran has often thrown 6-7 punch combinations.
4) Excellent Defense-In some ways this is self evident. NOBODY can fight over 30 years and 100+ fights, many at a championship level, without being an exceptional defender. Guys who get hit just cannot last that long. Of course (George Chuvalo is an exception to all all rules in this regard). What drove Duran's defensive success are his offense, which usually kept people otherwise occupied, his constant upper body and head movement and his skill at grabbing, clinching, pushing etc. For the most part once he closed the distance? You were going to do what he wanted.
I realize comparing Duran to others is somewhat unfair as he is a once in a generation kind of athlete. BUT, watching him it just looks like he is competing in a different sport than most today. The second and third things I noted are what I see rarely today. Manny Pacquiao now uses his feet the way Duran did to find angles and his variety of attack is now awfully good, though that is a recent development. Joe Calzaghe's upper body movement, while of a different look that Duran's, makes him effective and elusive in the same ways. Most offensively oriented fighters today seem locked into position from the waist up. Their hands aren't moving and neither are their heads. It also seems true to me that most fighters today have 2-3 combinations that they rely on over and over again. As a result they can be anticipated. Defensively, there really isn't a guy today who is reminiscent of Duran. I don't mean to say there aren't excellent defenders, just that they don't do it the way Duran did.
Go watch Duran films. It is the sport very close to it's highest incarnation.
Great post!!
I would be really interested to know what your top ten p4p all time looks like.
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