Quote Originally Posted by LegendBoxing65
Quote Originally Posted by Dav
With his impending induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, I feel it apt to air my views on where Duran will ultimately be remembered. It is a little unfortunate that Duran's name is inextricably linked these days with Leonard, Hagler and Hearns (due in part to the excellent DVD "The Fabulous Four"). It is understandable then that some may compare the four and look at Duran's performances as being not so great... he lost 2/3 to Leonard, lost to Hagler and got knocked out (in spectacular fashion) by Hearns. His only redemption was in his epic introduction to the 'middle' weight (not middleweight!!) divisions against Ray Leonard in 'The Brawl in Montreal' (still one of the most exciting fights ever IMO!!). What sometimes escapes notice is that when he bagen fighting at welter weight (and higher) Duran was mixing in company 2 weight divisions higher and 10 years after his peak. He is guilty of complicating his legacy even further by going on to win 'world' titles at Junior Middleweight and Middleweight (he claims a 5th weight - Super Middleweight.. but it was only the NBA title he won), and fighting into his 50's (he reamains the only boxer to fight professionally in 5 different decades!!!).

When remembering Roberto Duran I believe ultimately he will be remembered as the number one lightweight of all time.
10 years after his prime was when Duran fought at welterweight? So he was prime in 1969-1970 when he was 18 years old? This is more ridiculous nonsense about Duran. He was prime in about 1977/1978 or so I think which would make 10 years after his prime in 1987-1988.. And he fought Ray in 1980.. And was Ray prime when he fought Duran? No,, not either time, Ray was inexperienced when he fought Duran in 1980 and over the hill when he fought him in 1989..
What I said was Duran should not be remembered for his fihgts with the likes of Leonard, Hagler and Hearns which spanned the years 1980 -1989. Taking my statement that these fights were 10 years past his peak, this means that he was at his best between 1970 and 1979. I didn't mean that he was 10 years past his peak when he first went in with Leonard. Alot of people have only seen Duran on dvds like the Fabulous 4 which, good as that is, gives a false impression of a fighter who should be remembered primarily for his previous work.