when in condition did duran carry his power up to middleweight

[rightsideup]

Duran had so many uneven inconsistent performances after leonard 2 and every once in awhile would defy the odds and suprise like in the case of moore and Barkley. Going into the barkly fight I thought duran was going to get murdered but when he landed that right at the end of the first I knew we were in for a great fight.

[joseph5620]

Duran had so many uneven inconsistent performances after leonard 2 and every once in awhile would defy the odds and suprise like in the case of moore and Barkley. Going into the barkly fight I thought duran was going to get murdered but when he landed that right at the end of the first I knew we were in for a great fight.

I believe he still had respectable power but nothing like he had at 135-147 in terms of the effects.

[billeau2]

I believe he still had respectable power but nothing like he had at 135-147 in terms of the effects.

Ditto. Great fighters can often overcome some pretty intense handicaps. Duran was one of the greatest. James Toney....no slouch, fought as a heavyweight when he was basically a super middle weight for all practical purposes, I mean even as a light heavy that wasn't Toney at his best.

[The Old LefHook]

Duran had so many uneven inconsistent performances after leonard 2 and every once in awhile would defy the odds and suprise like in the case of moore and Barkley. Going into the barkly fight I thought duran was going to get murdered but when he landed that right at the end of the first I knew we were in for a great fight.

It is a fact of physics that fighters cannot increase their punching power on a one-for-one basis with extra pounds added over their optimal weight. We see no cases of heavy punching fighters being as devastating one division up as they were in the lower divisions, including every all time great. Case closed. Even Robinson's KO ratio was much higher as a welterweight than a middleweight. Nothing abnormal about that, even factoring in age. Abnormal would be the other way. Robinson is probably the closest example of a guy who consistently acheived the abnormal in this respect, another reason he is considered so great.

Duran had only medium sting as a middleweight. But in fact he had mastered more sneaky techniques than many of his heavier opponents, so was able to land repeatedly.

The reputation can be carried upwards, but not the punching power if you are already at your best weight. There are no cases otherwise, as expected. Devastating punchers are not devastating punchers even one division up. One might find a slight counter example here and there in history, but only slight ones, never a fighter equally as devastating at the higher weight.

[BennyST]

No, but he became completely reliant on his counter punching and so spent much more time suckering his opponents in to clean shots they never saw. When he was in better condition, which was not very often, he was a little faster, sharper and more accurate with these (not to mention he was able to throw more of them) and it was these unseen shots that hurt people, but he really wasn't much of a power puncher from 154 up, just very good at landing beautifully timed, sneaky counter shots.

[rightsideup]

Some very insightful well thought out replies thanks

[Humean]

I think Duran hit pretty hard even as a middleweight, not spectacular power at 160 but enough power to be considered a powerful puncher. For example i'd say he punched harder at 160 than perhaps over half of the current top 10 at 160.

[The Old LefHook]

I think Duran hit pretty hard even as a middleweight, not spectacular power at 160 but enough power to be considered a powerful puncher. For example i'd say he punched harder at 160 than perhaps over half of the current top 10 at 160.

He had the timing and the speed to go with it. Then there was his willingness to engage. Incoming punches could not prevent his outgoing volleys through heavy fire. Not many fighters are used to that or have experience with such an attitude. They get hit when they are not expecting it.

[Mugwump]

Sure, Duran's punching power was relatively weaker the further he went up. But this didn't stop him from inflicting the kind of injuries on the likes of Davey Moore and later Iran Barkley which are usually associated with a baseball bat.

Seriously, how much extra power did he need?