Really? Even one of the most shameful quit jobs of all-time isn't enough to so much as dent Duran's deity status with you? Not one little bit? Ypu've convinced yourself to this point Duran quit, "on principle" regarding the ring size? After eight rounds?
It wasn't a fight, it was a farce. A chase. 24x24 is 44% more surface area than a regulation ring. Imagine a football game taking place on a pitch 44% bigger? At the very least I entirely understand why Duran got so pissed off with the scenario that he walked away, because that wasn't boxing.
Leonard couldn't have executed that stink-plan without a big clown ring. In a 20x20 ring he would have had to deal with Duran again. He barely scraped a 2 point lead as was. It's a proper boxing match in a boxing ring, and one way or another it looks very, very different.
Duran lost because he was partying and had trouble making weight, and then there was the 24x24' ring. Even with those advantages, like Hut pointed out, Leonard was not exactly winning the fight going away. Duran is a better fighter and just much more man than Leonard, the Montreal fight proved that. Put an in-shape Duran in a 20x20' ring with Leonard and the same shit happens again, Duran jumps on him and doesn't let up for 15 rounds. Also, keep in mind that Leonard never hurt Duran, whereas Leonard was very clearly rocked hard a couple of times in their first fight.
I'm talking about head to head. And though I think the style and size matchup results in Hearns beating Duran every time, Duran was never the same after Montreal. He still showed brilliance and skill in some fights, but physically and emotionally, he was well past his prime by the time he fought Hearns. He was in his 16th year of fighting; what was Leonard doing in the 16th year of his career? Nothing, he'd retired years earlier after getting his ass kicked by Terry Norris.
Yup, and I stand by that. You really think a 44% bigger ring for a guy who went out intent on running for his life wasn't a HUGE factor?
Real men back in the day didn't use an opponent's running as an excuse. INstead they would say stuff like "He can run but he can't hide!" and then proceed to knock them the fuck out! opcorn:
We have seen many great fighters quit because of getting battered, being injured etc. But has there ever been another guy who surrendered like a rabbit for being outboxed for a couple of rounds? I think not.
Hell, why not make it a 100' x 100' ring and lay the onus for catching the opponent on the pressure fighter?
Has there ever been another guy who had an opponent successfully demand a big clown ring then make a mockery of the sport and his attempts to engage in what they both trained & dedicated their whole lives to do for 8 rounds? :shit:
Why not try to do that, go down fighting and come back to prove your greatness another time, instead of embarrassing yourself and getting your ass kicked royally by every great fighter and plenty of others forever after
Bullshit, Duran did things Leonard could never dream of. He moved up two divisions and challenged Leonard in his prime. Leonard waited until Hagler was well past his best to fight him at 160, and waited close to a decade to rematch Hearns. Let's not even get into the Lalonde farce..
