Julio Cesar Chavez Vs. Roberto Duran in the works for July 23rd in Vegas! (in an exhibition)

04/13/2016 James Slater

Quite often, when the subject of “Dream Fights” comes up, fight fans close their eyes and fantasize over just how special a lightweight super-fight between all-time greats Roberto Duran and Julio Cesar Chavez would be; and to wonder who would have emerged triumphant. Well, both long retired greats are well above the 135-pound limit today (and the 147, 154 and maybe 160-pound limit come to that) but they are set to face one another in a special attraction of a bout that Bob Arum is planning to add to his upcoming July 23rd show at The MGM Grand in Las Vegas (probably to be topped by Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol).

But calm down, the planned Duran-Chavez bout will be of the exhibition variety only. Arum told Dan Rafael of ESPN.com that he aims to have the two-round exhibition on his card in the name of fun. According to Rafael, the Nevada State Athletic Commission must first approve the bout, and decide what weight it will be “fought” at, but both living legends have said they definitely want to take part in the exhibition. Chavez is now 53-years-old, Duran – who will soon see a movie based on his incredible life released, with “Hands of Stone” set to hit cinemas in August – is 11 years older at 64.

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“Hands of Stone,” biopic of living legend Roberto Duran to be released on August 26th

02/25/201602/24/2016 James Slater

Well over three years in the making, “Hands of Stone,” the biopic on the life and legendary career of the one and only Roberto Duran, finally gets released in the U.S this August, on the 26th. The film – written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and starring Robert De Niro as Duran trainer Ray Arcel and Edgar Ramirez as the Panamanian warrior – was filmed on location in both New York and Panama.

Also starring Usher Raymond, as Sugar Ray Leonard and Ruben Blades as Duran’s main man, Carlos Eleta, the film will also have portrayals of infamous mob guy Frankie Carbo and another boxing legend in Angelo Dundee.

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Iran Barkley speaks about his epic fight with Roberto Duran, over 25-years on

02/25/201502/24/2015 James Slater

On this day 26 years ago, inside a packed Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey, two bitter middleweight rivals went to war over 12 absolutely thrilling rounds.

Outside, snow covered the ground thanks to a blizzard, yet inside the arena the heat was scorching. WBC middleweight ruler Iran Barkley fought a thought to be faded legend in Roberto Duran and the fans in attendance witnessed both a modern day classic and a renaissance.

For all 12 ‘don’t-blink’ rounds, the 28-year-old and the 37-year-old went to war, with a number of unforgettable highlights and a ton of terrific action on display through the 36-minutes. In the end, old “Hands of Stone” prevailed via a somewhat controversial upset split decision, relieving “The Blade” of his green belt.

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Mayweather V Guerrero: Time For An Upset, Or A Blatant Mismatch?

02/27/201302/27/2013 ESB

floyd56 By Mark Klimaszewski – This May 4th, “Cinco De Mayo” weekend once again plays host to a boxing extravaganza featuring none other than undefeated pound for pound great, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Hoping to take his crown is multi-weight ‘world’ champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. In many people’s eyes this should be Floyd’s toughest test since Oscar De La Hoya lost to him by a split decision, which incidentally was also on Cinco De Mayo weekend in 2007.

The Ghost has certainly seen his stock rise recently with a decent win over then-undefeated, but unheralded, Selcyk Aydin of Turkey and a thrilling but messy win over previous Welterweight WBC Champ Andre Berto; the fact he had to jump up two weight classes from 135lb to 147lb before pulling off these wins makes them even more impressive.

But is it a step too far to suggest Guerrero poses more of a threat than Miguel Cotto did last May? Indeed, Cotto was certainly past his best. Yet he put on a superb, skilled and hugely spirited performance against Mayweather, giving him his most hard-fought victory since his controversial win against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002. Also, that was at 154lb, a weight Cotto was more comfortable at than Mayweather. Yet the man known as “Money” still managed to end the night with a wide points win.

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All Time Historical Survey Series Recap – The Original 8 Weight Classes & P4P

09/15/201608/10/2012 Geoffrey Ciani

by Geoffrey Ciani – Over the course of a sixteen month period beginning in June 2009, I conducted a series of surveys that all began with a very simple question: Who are the ten best heavyweights of all time? While contemplating my own list of top heavyweight pugilists, I decided gathering the input of others might help display a more accurate portrayal of what a ‘true’ top 10 list should look like. Now of course this is not an exact science by any means. In fact, quite the opposite, it is an extremely subjective topic that is often skewed by personal bias, differences of opinion, individual tastes and preferences, and most importantly the absence of a universally agreed upon criteria with which to judge past fighters. Even with these inherent obstacles playing their natural role, however, we can still establish some degree of consensus.

The guidelines were simple. I had every person who voluntarily participated in each survey provide me with a chronological list of who they considered to be the ten best (heavyweights, middleweights, etc) in boxing history. Ties were not permitted, just a straight-forward list from one to ten. I then used a weighted-points system to assign values to fighters based on where they appeared on each individual’s list. First place votes received 25 points. Second place votes were worth 15 points, third place votes were 12, and fourth and fifth place votes were worth 10 and 8 points respectively. After that, the point differential was constant, with sixth place votes getting 5 points, seventh place votes getting 4, eighth getting 3, ninth place 2, and tenth place 1.

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