Roberto Duran vs Sugar Ray Leonard 1 Explained -Brawl in Montreal |Tyson's Favorite Fight| Breakdown

Roberto durán and Sugar Ray Leonard fought for the first time in 1980 kicking off would would become an iconic rivalry in boxing and while their second fight gets most of the attention due to its bizarre ending their first encounter remains one of the most entertaining matches in boxing and one of the best fights amongst the four kings this is a no small part due to the drastic differences between the two fighters in both style and personality Duran was known as a brutal in fighter he was a skillful boxer whose skills were missed by many overshadowed by his unrelenting savagery Duran used grappling techniques to subdue his opponents making use of his head shoulders and chest to wrestle them into corners and guard manipulations to slip him jarring punches for mere inches away to quote Leonard he did not defeat his opponents he demolished them Duran always went for the knockout and was angry with himself in the world if he didn't get it his rage controlled him as much as the other way around in contrast Leonard was the all-american charmer with the big smile who boxed beautifully and danced to the tune of Ollie and Sugar Ray Robinson he was known for his movement and speed and his footwork and rhythm were so refined he could use them in lieu of a jab to set up powerful blows when the fight was made Duran only had a vague idea of who Sugar Ray Leonard was but the more he learned of him the more dren developed an intense hatred for Sugar Ray Duran saw Leonard as an undeserving young pretty boy who was getting the majority of the attention and money in fact the press were treating the fight as if Leonard had already won although he was moving up in weight Duran still enjoyed a record of 71 wins two one loss with 56 knockouts but most of the boxing community including Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson predicted that Leonard would easily win the fight one of the few outliers was custom auto who prophesize that if Duran has the will to apply his skills with determination and courage he will neutralize Leonard's ability by the time the two first met Duran was already sieving he made the decision to play to his reputation to portray himself as savage crass and uncivilized as possible now El Diablo they called me the devil I wasn't going to do anything to make them think other one good versus evil and I was a bad guy but they could write what they liked about me I couldn't read English anyway Duran now embellished on this roll shoving food into his mouth like a starving animals jabbing Leonard hard during the press photos and throwing foul insult after foul insults the final straw occurred at the weigh-in when Duran told Leonard's wife that after he was done screwing Leonard he was gonna screw her too so by the time the first bell rang destroying Duran was all Leonard had been thinking about for months to quote the hands of stone himself I pushed all of Leonard's buttons I knew I could turn the fight into a brawl it was meant to drive him crazy and it worked at first Leonard tried to follow through on the game plan he had worked out with his team the idea was to box Durant to death moving from side to side and utilizing his large reach advantage to steer clear the ropes Leonard had even been taking tap-dancing lessons to speed up his feet the plan worked but only for about 30 seconds there was a huge problem with Leonard's plan to use his jab to establish distance very few of them were actually landing Leonard would later praised Duran saying he was a better boxer and he was given credit for and he slipped punches almost as well as Benitez Leonard was hitting air but he had an even bigger problem Duran loved to enter with a wide looping right using it to clear as a pumice guard out of the way before coming up from underneath to secure a hold at the same time he would shift forward leaving to stay safe and using his right foot to cut off his opponent's escape when Duran lived up to his expectation and did as expected fully committing to his punches and weaving in wildly Leonard was able to easily escape but Duran was an intelligent boxer and well versed and fainted punches to get his opponents to react the exact way he wanted them to in the meantime he himself remained entirely composed and well balanced by the end of the first round it had become apparent that directed smoothly and easily follow Lehner's defensive movements by fainting and then following him and Leonard was quickly running out of space to maneuver out of the way by the second round Duran was able to repeatedly pin Leonard against the ropes trapping him and landing a barrage of sharp tight body blows this was Duran's plan to spend the first five rounds making Leonard bear his weight and punishing his body slowing his movements in the later rounds and so far Duran was the one executing his plan flawlessly but it would not take five rounds for Durant's persistence to pay off only halfway through the second round Duran nailed Leonard with a powerful lead hook that knocked him backwards because of Durant's preference for bull rushing his opponents became highly reactive to level changes Leonard would later note Duran was the only boxer I ever saw he used his head hit feedback as such Brad could effectively use a level change of the face like many an MMA do today Duran had just executed this trick perfectly in order to set up the hook that shook Leonard he changed head levels to get Leonard to react defensively and then use that beat in the exchange moving closer before throwing his punches Leonard survived the round and stood in his corner well before the bell rang for the third he wanted to show Duran that he was still ready to fight Duran had so enraged Leonard he was ready to die rather than back down but it would still take three more rounds for Lehner's head to completely clear in the meantime Duran picked him apart showcasing his unique blend of wrestling and boxing at one point in the third Leonard was on the ropes for 30 seconds and took 17 punches without returning any like Henry Armstrong Duran used his head and shoulders to knock his opponents off balance and drive them to the ropes but Duran was as much a craftsman as he was a boy and he could seamlessly weave left to right rest his head on either of his deployment shoulders this kept him safe and set up new angles of attack the technique was particularly effective for targeting his competitors liver Duran used this technique and many others to perform a symphony of destruction on Leonard at times dren would even leave underneath winners head keeping his own head pintle in his chest and grinding the skull across his eyebrows the same time Duran was weaving between Lennon's shoulders his hands were busy disrupting his guard and landing some of the tightest strikes and boxing Duran could manipulate his opponents to create the smallest openings and then land compact jarring punches through those openings Leonard would later explain that each shot felt like a jackhammer being drilled into my skull my teeth knocked back so hard I had to push them into place with my gloves between rounds but I showed something I had never needed to show before I showed I could take a punch Leonard proved he could take a punch once again in the beginning of the fourth when des ran smoothly slips his jab and returned a hard right that drove him into the road when Leonard tried to go on the attack Duran was able to rely on his superior counter punch but the biggest surprise to those watching around the world was that Duran seemed to have hands almost as fast or maybe just as fast as Leonard's Duran continued pressing forwards and digging into Leonard's body throughout the round Duran the end of the round by taunting Leonard with his hands low evading every punch Leonard threw in retaliation he then secured an underhook and turned him back against the ropes so we could unload on him again until the bell rang watching from the front row Ray's wife started to bawl finally in the fifth something changed in Leonard Leonard now refused to move backwards getting low and wrestling with Duran trying to match him at his own game he took extreme risks leaving himself open and enduring shots in order to land a few of his own many fighters would have been broken mentally by Duran's unrelenting pressure but Sugar Ray's response was not to fade it was to become enraged I couldn't tell you why he would later say I think my fighting instincts just took over near the end of the round he used his incredible speed to flurry digging in a barrage of body hooks and uppercuts just as his namesake did when he was in trouble years before she was by no means winning and Duran was evading most of his punches but Sugar Ray was starting to hold his own for the first time in the fight the two looked evenly matched the six was more of the same with Leonard starting to rival Duran's wild savagery although Duran still proved difficult to hit Leonard had effectively stunted the hands of stones offense Duran was too focused on defense at this point to land with the same consistency as he had in the earlier rounds Leonard's ability to fight fire with fire was buying him much needed time to recover and get his bearings in the seventh Duran became more reckless as well which led to one of the most entertaining intense and brutal rounds of boxing history both fighters threw everything they had into lightning-fast combinations but this was no slugfest although both Duran and Leonard were being recklessly aggressive they still displayed masterful defense slipping ducking and blocking before immediately returning fire at times the fighters looked surprisingly similar but the main difference was a Duran punched and grappled at the same time whereas Leonard would look for a superior position and then pick what he felt was an opportune moment to flurry when the round ended all three judges scored the seventh even but despite Leonard's efforts he still had not managed to hurt Duran the same way Duran and hurt him he'd later relate despite my renewed determination I didn't come close to hurting Duran I miss my target over and over and when I did land a strong combination or two he would immediately land with an effective flurry of his own if anything the hits he took made him counter with greater fury as if he actually enjoyed the pain over the last few rounds Leonard had been surviving on pure willpower loans but in the eighth he began to develop effective techniques to stifle some of Darren's attacks Leonard either through experience or intuition picked up on how Duran like to switch hand positions to set up attacks Duran like to switch which hand was grappling and which hand was striking and then take his opponent by surprise during the switch so in response Leonard kept changing his head position every time he felt around a just keeping his head safely tucked away from Leonard's free hand eventually he realized he could time his shots off of this technique now able to somewhat stifle Durant's inside work Leonard fought Duran at mid to long range but just as Leonard was competent at inside fighting Durant's head movement feints and rhythm allowed him to remain competitive from a greater distance this was despite Lehner's massive five-inch reach advantage and even though Leonard was at his preferred range he was still standing flat-footed and keeping his weight sunk low looking to turn the fight into more of a brawl from his corner Leonard's coach pleaded with him to box the Leonard had incredible movement and although Duran had neutralized a lot of it through faints and wrestling Leonard had seemed to throw the baby out with the bathwater discarding the very tools that had brought him to the top neither man had stopped punching for the last 20 seconds to the round by the end rays wife had stopped crying but only because she just fainted by the ninth the fight had truly transformed into one of the most complete fights in boxing history with the fighters displaying all skill sets and moving seamlessly between all ranges both fighters were willing to fight anywhere in any way employing skillful defense with recklessly aggressive offense once again all three judges scored this round even in round 10 the momentum again shifted if there is one thing that set Leonard apart from the rest of the four kings it was his ability to adapt mid fight when Duran charged in Leonard now sidestepped and pushed down on Durant's head to knock him off balance and turned him alternatively Leonard would duck down even lower than Duran forcing him to stop in his tracks for fear of slamming into Leonard's head now that Durant's wrestling had finally been dealt with Leonard could focus on intelligent offense with the second or two to breathe Leonard could set up attacks and read rands movements he cocked around as he tried to duck away with a hard chopping right for the first time in the fight Leonard had seriously hurt Duran perhaps it was fatigue or perhaps it was this one well landed punch but Duran speed would not be the same throughout the duration of the fight as Sugar Ray walked back to his corner he knew he had a surefire way to win the fight from here on out with Duran's wrestling no longer as large of a threat Leonard could spend the remaining five rounds dancing around Duran outpointing him but Duran's insults echoed around Leonard's head he couldn't shake them he needed to prove that he could not only beat her in but beat him at his own game and so the remaining rounds were not a display of beautiful boxing by Leonard they were instead a desperate back and forth war with constant shifts in momentum like the seventh the 11th was non-stop action from start to finish at times both men seems to discount defense entirely to focus on hitting the other one man would be pummeling the other against the ropes one second and then the other would suddenly and violently take control the majority of boxers could not take this pace for more than a few rounds and these two champions had fought at a tremendous pace for 11 rounds thus far and still have potentially four more rounds to go but far from slowing they were just getting started the 12th began with both men sharp shooting at long range before once again shifting to mid range both fighters have their moments but Duran ended up getting the better of more exchanges and was dominant in the later half after the round he told his corner that that was it he knew he had won the fight his quarter admonished him telling him it wasn't over yet don't let Leonard breathe so in the 13th Duran picked up where he had left off the last round driving Leonard against the ropes but then Leonard turned him and attacked ferociously backing Duran into a corner and connecting with hard solid punches Duran fought through though and managed to rally damaging race so greatly from against the ropes he was forced to retreat to the center of the Ring but then Rey once again got the upper hand landing tearing whipping punches to stop Duran in his tracks neither man would back down but while it had been Duran who had started the round strong it was Leonard who had finished it in the 14th Leonard's endurance and speed came into play while Leonard had been taking the majority of the body shots it was Duran who had noticeably slowed but still Duran's relentless grind pressed Leonard towards the ropes where Duran punished him with an endless barrage of body hooks and tight headshots Duran may have slowed but he was nowhere near close to stopping he later explained in the past have screwed around a lot before fights spending a lot of money on drinking and women not this time I realized how important this fight was and I wasn't gonna let anything distract me this was my chance to make the world take notice and I wasn't gonna blow it I was in the best shape I'd ever been a near the end of the round Leonard attempted one of his signature winding punches Duran narrowly slipped him but was caught by Leonard's follow-up hook in their respective corners Duran was confident to victory while Leonard considered it a close fight not sure how the judges could score it Leonard knew he could not afford to give up this last round Leonard stood and signaled Ren to come at him and Duran was eager to apply the bell rang and the ref had to force both men to honor the tradition of touching gloves for the final round by the time the round was half way through both men were gasping for air pausing a few seconds to catch their breath before unloading with their hardest punches even now looking for a last round knockout in the final seconds Leonard threw everything he had left at Duran but Duran slipped every punch confident of victory he danced in taunton Leonard until the final bell Leonard raised his hands and Duran shoved him one last time enraged that he would dare claim he'd won the fight the two men had begun the fight his bitter enemies and nothing had happened to make that change as Duran so elegantly put it as we touch gloves for the final round I said phew and then continued punching him and playing with him while dodging his punches I knew I'd beat him I told him I was more of a man than him I could take more punches than he can I'm a better boxer he never hurt me he hit me hard but he never hurt me I'm very strong I insulted Leonard one more time grab my crotch and called him hit him furious that Durant's behavior Ray's brother rushed Duran Duran knocked him out in one shot but few noticed amidst all the confusion and sadly only the star of the incident was partially caught on camera the judges scores were being tallied and both men awaited their respective faiths the results would impact both of their lives forever although it was a close fight Duran was named the victor and solidified himself as one of the true greats of boxing Leonard was forced to taste defeat for the first time in his life Duran would later explain I won because I made Leonard fight my fight he was forced to box flat-footed and in that way I made him take big punches he thought he was showing a lot of courage by taking so many maybe but mostly he was showing a good way to lose Duran Wood returned triumphant to Panama where he had survived as a child eating garbage to crowds of thousands and a life of wealth and although Leonard had made over five times more than Duran the fight would have a terrible impact on his psyche put simply Leonard was devastated he had been certain he would defeat every opponent put in front of him and then retire on top like Rocky Marciano invincible forever now he considered retiring early but over the weeks as the wounds healed and the pain lessen he began to realize what had happened Leonard had just been exposed to the results of psychological warfare in his own words never did another fighter penetrate my psyche as much as Duran and there was nothing I could do about it understanding the essence of the opponent I was facing made it easier for me to beat the living daylights out of them and then when the fight was over to show genuine empathy what Duran it wasn't until too late that I figured him out he wasn't a madman he only pretended to be one Leonard decided that he did not need retirement he needed a rematch as it turned out it would get one and what transpired would shock the world thanks for watching stay tuned for more videos from the four kings and Golden Age of heavyweight sagas if you train yourself and would like to improve your game you can check out my books on power and forward linked in the description and the comments if you're into MMA you can check out several exclusive breakdowns on my patreon and watch out for an upcoming video out next from the modern martial artist this has been David Christian wishing you happy training

Channel: The Modern Martial Artist

Views: 955,513

Rating: 4.9225225 out of 5

Keywords: sugar ray leonard vs roberto duran, boxing, explained, fight, breakdown, technique, technique breakdown, fight breakdown, muhammad ali, sugar ray robinson, roberto duran, sugar ray, leonard, analysis, wrestling, grappling, skills, styles, no mas, rivalry, The Brawl in Montreal, cus d'amato

Id: jt7EdREBeiA

Length: 21min 24sec (1284 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 25 2018