Wow I never thought about this fight. Pipino Cuevas could hurt anyone he touched with that left hook. This would have been a war one which the great Roberto Duran would have won by knockout. Duran was just way to much for all these guys he would have broken Cuevas down and hurt him bad just like he did everyone else.
Hello Z and another great question! Pipino Cuevas at his best was a devastating puncher with the best left hook in the business and along with it at one time had an iron jaw too. Roberto Duran as everybody knows was also a hard puncher but more than that an intimidating and mean fighter with great reflexes, balance and skills to go along with it and was also fearless at his best. When he beat Sugar Ray Leonard he was at his snarling intimidating best and brought the fight to Ray and earned the decision victory. Of course he did beat Cuevas heads up later on a few years later when neither was at this fistic peak in their careers. That being said, I believe that the ovrall ring intelligence and just sheer will to win favor Duran here in a rousing battle.
Roberto Duran W15
Never. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find ten welterweights, in history, who would beat that version of Duran. I dare say that he was as great as he could be and clearly as great as he was in his lightweight days.
See, Duran is widely regarded as the greatest of all lightweights, rightfully so. However, by the time he moved to welterweight, he had long outgrown 135 as his "natural" weight. He had grown into a natural welterweight.
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Because of the magnitude of his victory over Ray Leonard, Duran's only weakness, his lack of discipline between fights, overwhelmed him. Sadly and pathetically, the specture of "No Mas" looms over him, at least in the small minds of those who chose to define Duran by that fight.
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Pipino Cuevas had six losses before losing to Thomas Hearns. These losses were largely because of his lack of defense. He was Always there to be hit. For all his fury, Cuevas was FAR too easy to hit. You couldn't miss him. Such a deficiency would prove detrimental to an accurate puncher like Duran.
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Duran threw every conceivable punch from every conceivable angle. The jab was the only punch he didn't use frequently. That was only because he didn't need to.
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Cuevas, Any version, would have been no match for That version of Duran. He has a heart the size of Mexico but he would still be a sitting duck for the fury of Duran.
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Duran by KO in 6.
I don't think so. Roberto Duran would have punished him just like he punished Sugar Ray Leonard.
Would he have been able to hurt Roberto with that hook of his?
