Why Roberto Durán is The Best Fighter Ever

Roberto Durán is a very popular, albeit polarizing figure. His suave arrogance and vicious, warrior-like ideologies won over fans across the world, but he also gained himself plenty of critics. We all know the stories of Durán and Sugar Ray, so I need not explain the “No Mas” incident, or how tainted his image became from it. That’s not what this is about, though. In fact, quite the opposite! My proposal is that Roberto Durán is the best fighter ever. Call me crazy, call me brilliant, I don’t mind, but I do need to explain that Greatest and Best are different things. The greatest fighter ever, is more so defined by said fighter’s in-ring achievements rather than in-ring talent. For example, Henry Armstrong’s stacked roster, ridiculous title run at 147 and unique distinction of being a simultaneous three division champion, in my opinion, makes him a greater fighter than Roberto Durán. However, the best is what a fighter can do in the squared circle. Durán is certainly more impressive in that respect than Mr. Armstrong.

Anyway, with that slight, albeit unavoidable, tangent past us, I’ll try and get on with it. The trajectory of Durán’s earlier career is riveting; with each major fight at lightweight, he seemed to evolve a new aspect of his game, developing his skill level, drastically.

For example, in the Hector Thompson and Leoncio Ortiz fights, he showed how educated his jab was. He also displayed excellent versatility with his punches, throwing vicious, tight uppercuts from either hand. In the second bout with DeJesús, he showed just how easily he could break someone down with body punishment. In the Carlos Palomino fight, he put his array of feints on show, making sure an elite fighter was completely befuddled and in all honesty didn’t know whether he was coming or going. Then there’s the famous third meeting with DeJesús, where he showed he wasn’t just a well trained brute with fancy feet. He boxed perfectly, and showed his all-round skill, and just how good he really was at everything.

He developed this technical skill as a lightweight, but he showed it off more above the weight, like he traded his physical superiority for God given skill and experience. For a few-year period, he had both, and that’s the time frame in which I firmly believe he was the best fighter in history.

Manos De Piedra was a master infighter, probably the best ever, but then again you already knew that. His inside fighting was complimented by excellent clinch-work and Durán understood the principles of how to keep what he did economical. Whilst being extraordinarily strong, he used his smarts to bolster this strength. He did this by employing underhooks, overhooks, collar ties and knowing where to rest his head and hold the opponent’s hands. As he held, he liked to throw straight up the middle, as to use his forearms and elbows to keep himself safe, as well as getting to the target first. He also used this strategy to let his short shovel hooks to the ribs and liver off.

Of course, it’d be criminal to not mention Cholo’s uppercut. After all, it was a staple of his inside offence. Whilst in the clinch, he’d smother his opponent’s right arm, be it by hooking their arm in place, glove-on-bicep style or simply pulling it into an awkward position, then throw a short, nasty uppercut across his chest which landed square on their unprotected chin.

Manos De Piedra was a thorough-bred fighter, born and raised. We all know his story, but that natural instinct evolved into a deep understanding of how to use the ring. As he was coming up, he took plenty of warm up-keep busy fights, which drastically helped his experience. After all, you get better at something by doing it. Durán’s lexicon was endless, he knew how to adapt to every situation and showed that he could differentiate between which tactics he’d need to use. During his later 135 title defenses he’d take his time before rushing in. Even if it was just a round, he’d take the few minutes to figure his opponents out.

Durán’s infighting style lent itself to aggression. So as a lightweight who’d move up all the way to super-middleweight, he’d need a gorgeous defense, and fortunately, that’s precisely what Durán had. He had answers for every punch in the book. He’d bob and weave circular shots upstairs at mid or long-range, whilst having his guard in position to block body shots, and twisting his hips to take the sting out of the most diabolical shots he’d be tagged with. Even though he had an excellent defense to the body, he held his hands up. His fundamental understanding of how to keep himself safe, was immaculate; when attacking, he would do his thing, then, when he had to break, he wouldn’t leave in straight lines but at angles, gloves pinned to cheek. Whilst defending linear punches, he’d utilize an economical shoulder roll to avoid crosses, or at least take the sting out of them. He’d parry jabs, and return fire with his own, or simply slip them, whichever he felt like. That’s just at mid and long-range…

Whilst fighting up close, his preferred distance, he was the best I ever saw, at burrowing himself a nook or cranny in someone’s guard. This situational talent was at the heart of Durán’s defense. He’d find this gap, and exploit it by positioning himself there at angle which let him hit whilst remaining safe using his incredible smothering, grappling and footwork to keep this position. Furthermore, he’d also use his positioning to compliment his defense at the other ranges. When he’d employ his baits and feints and draw the lead from his opponents, he’d retreat at angles, using masterful parrying and footwork to offset the attacker. All of these facets combined, made landing flush on Durán twice, like catching smoke.

On top of his masterful defense, Manos De Piedra had acquired himself a nasty arsenal of vicious counters. Watch the knock-down vs. Moore; how he nonchalantly moved his head side to side then let the power shift from foot to foot, as he missed a short, tidy, left hook and then let loose his full weight into a brutal overhand with blistering momentum, countering a sloppy 1-2 which threw Moore to the canvas like a child discarding a broken action figure. His counter cross was always the money-punch. Be it Moore, Barkley, Palomino or Sugar Ray Leonard, they all got hit and hurt with that cross. His uppercuts were wicked, and he worked them into his opponent’s body at will, but the ones which damaged (Leoncio) Ortiz, (Hector) Thompson, Guts Ishimatsu & Vilomar Fernandez the ones which I distinctly remember.

Durán learned to integrate his head-movement into his offence even further, as he bobbed under a right hand, he would shift to his left and pivoted off angle, turning his opponents and then setting himself for an attack if he found himself fighting off the ropes. Durán’s actual arsenal, not just his counters, was among the most ferocious ever seen, coupled with the most skilled. Think Henry Armstrong but with a bit more Jack Dempsey. His demolition job of the much bigger Davey Moore is savage. As is watching him lay waste to Monroe Brooks. Durán was excellently conditioned as well… he had to be! His swarming way of imposing himself required a very high work rate, and Durán had it.

His left hook to the body was flawless; he’d find his distance and punish the same spot, repeatedly. He was able to get leverage at close range, and deal devastating short shots which pounded his opponents’ ribs or he could shift into a brutal left from mid range which left Monroe Brooks, DeJesús, Moore, Fernandez and so many others almost crippled, and certainly pissing blood. Then you factor in his falcon right hand, along with his nasty uppercuts, and other-worldly hooks. His jab was exquisite and led Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray into traps, along with the next thing I’ll rattle on about: feints.

Durán’s feint game was iconic. Watch him vs. Palomino, he baited his way in, and timed the defensive maneuvers he made, and then unloaded the rest of his offence on the unsuspecting King. What’s more is that Manos De Piedra had more levels to his feints than just half punches and slight movements. He moved his feet to feint, he twisted his shoulders ever so slightly, he turned his hips, he’d do tiny movements which only boxers would think anything of, and these tricks were so smooth and well integrated into what he did, he twisted his shoulders as if to throw with one hand and then throw a short shot with the other. The way he’d flinch with his shoulders to elicit a response was masterful, his level changes to build momentum etc; Durán was a master feinter.

Durán’s footwork was elegant at worst, enchanting at best. Every he did was textbook and proper, vs. Leonard, he gave the master boxer a tooling on footwork. Watch how he closes the gap, shuffling and setting himself when he needed but delivering his full arsenal while light on his toes. The angles of his feet were perfect, cutting off the ring against someone with as good footwork as Leonard. Against Ortiz, his shifts and explosiveness was on full display. Particularly whilst working the uppercut and cutting down the ring against the especially under mentioned southpaw. Durán’s footwork is apparent in almost every Durán fight. The Hagler and Iran Barkley fights are especially enjoyable from a foot enthusiast point-of-view. His pivots and shuffles are exceptional, as is his positioning and what’s more was his innate talent at staying balanced in the process.

His feet put another massive part of his abilities, and in my eyes, the best aspect of his skill, into play. Durán’s greatest gift, among a large group to pick from, was his unbelievable understanding of how to read and manipulate range. Be it closing the gap and getting up close, or shifting in and out of range so subtly you don’t even notice until his punches land, and the opponent’s don’t. Fighters like Muhammad Ali, Miguel Canto or Willie Pep may have been experts at keeping a fight at long-range/arm’s length, but at slipping between all three major ranges, Roberto Durán is the best I’ve ever seen.

Durán has the intangibles to rival anyone. You can talk about “No Mas” all you want, but someone with no heart gets dropped by and loses to DeJesus then comes back with war and a snarl. Someone with no heart gets hit flush and dropped by Tommy Hearns and then comes out of the corner for the next round, looking for a KO. He warred with Barkley, Moore and Marvin Hagler, you have to have heart for that.

His chin is certified granite. He ate flush shots from Marvin Hagler and Iran Barkley, men who are naturally 25lbs heavier. He fiercely engaged with DeJesus, Moore, Leonard, Hagler, Palomino and more, relatively unscathed. It’s what makes Hearns’ KO so impressive. Durán had wicked, scythe-like power. He rocked Leonard and Barkley, destroyed Moore and even had the venom to make Hagler respect him. His destructive title run at 135 is a perfect example of his power. He wasn’t a one punch KO guy, but he could crack with the best of ‘em. Durán was exceptionally quick, very explosive and superbly athletic. His co-ordination was befitting of such a natural fighting man.

If I was to give a short list of Durán’s absolute best performances, I’d say: DeJesús III, Palomino, Leonard I and Brooks. In those fights, he was operating on full cylinders; He made all of these factors work, simultaneously. Like a well oiled machine. On those nights, and other in that time period, he was better than Sugar Ray Robinson, Roy Jones JR, Floyd Mayweather, Willie Pep, Muhammad Ali or anyone else you care to mention. And if he wasn’t; he was bloody close.