Quote Originally Posted by ICB View Post
Quote Originally Posted by paddy448 View Post
Quote Originally Posted by generalbulldog View Post

I do know about Duran ballooning up in weight between fights and I did see the Leonard interview where Leonard said that they exploited that weakness, but still it's Duran's job to come prepared physically and mentally especially in a championship match against an elite talent like Leonard. IMO even if he came in prepared he still gets outbox by Leonard, because Leonard isn't going to fight Duran's fight again, he learned his lesson and the 2nd Sugar Ray is the better boxer.

The reason why I said Whittaker and Mayweather beats Duran at 135, 140, and 147 is this, Whittaker and Mayweather are not just only elite boxers but also elite defensive masterminds and Duran had trouble with elite boxers. Whittaker and Mayweather aren't going to be drawn into a brawl, that's not their style. They will outbox him and counterpunch and use their footspeed, fast hands, and quick reflexes to their advantages. So I asked myself this question, Can Duran outbox them? My answer is no.

And if there was a time machine where a 29 year old Duran is transported into the 40s and fought a prime Sugar Ray at welterweight, I'm sorry Duran gets outbox in an UD win for SRR or gets knocked out, visions of what Hearns did to Duran but at welterweight with the original Sugar Ray comes to mind, I dont' think that fight will be close. So I don't buy the "In theory Duran could be virtually unbeatable at welterweight" thing that the other poster was talking about. Sure maybe he can beat a Tito Trinidad at welter weight, but like I said might as well use the best and speculate how Duran would have done against SRR.
witaker and mayweather might be better boxers than duran not by much, but duran is a much better fighter, at 135 duran eats these two, 140 and 147 i still thinks he beats them, u have to admit in any weight to say they would make duran look foolish is over the top. if you havent i urge u to check some of his lightweight fights out. and u talk about how its durans job to come in fully prepared i understand that, but he still wasnt at his best, im not trying to say leonard couldnt beat duran when hes fully prepared im just sayin duran was a shadow of himself that night. and ur saying about how leonard didnt fight his fight the first time yeah its because duran didnt let him,he didnt give leonard room to breath that fight. duran won fair and square. as for the sugar ray robinson fight i cant really argue with u on that one, although no one nos for sure.
I don't think you have seen a prime Pernell Whitaker at Lightweight, he was amazing at that weightclass. and he beat some very good fighters at that weightclass like Azumah Nelson, Jose Luis Ramirez x2, Freddie Pendleton, Greg Haugen, Roger Mayweather, Jorge Paez.

And he hardly even got hit while fighting those fighters aswell, and he could also fight at a much higher pace at Lightweight. while being amazingly hard to hit, sometimes he could throw up to 90 punches a round when he had to.

Pernell Whitaker would outbox Roberto Duran at Lightweight, no doubt in my mind. And "The Wind" can tell me about all these cuban boxers Roberto Duran beat at Lightweight, but i can safely say there not even close to Pernell Whitaker.
i agree with u on whitaker, he was something else. and where my statement saying duran would eat him at 135 was a bit strong, i do think duran beats him still