Quote Originally Posted by ICB View Post
Quote Originally Posted by RozzySean View Post
Here we go. I'll trash my favorite fighter. Duran dominated lightweight in weak era, and he padded his record with bums. Other than the first Ray Leonard fight, he came up short in every other fight against top competition - Benitez, Hearns, and Hagler. Iran Barkley was overrated. The only good fighter he ever beat was Hearns, so that win doesn't mean much. He fought way past his prime and ruined his legacy losing to guys like Paz and Lawlor.

This is a fun game!
I wouldn't say Iran Barkley was overrated, he done very well against Sumbu Kalambay and Michael Nunn who were both in there prime. Those fights alone showed he could compete at world class.
I was trashing Barkley to diminish Duran's win over him. Keeping with that theme, he was competitive with Kalambay and Nunn, but he lost. He got KTFO by Benn. James Toney made him look like an amateur.

OK, in real life, I don't think Barkley was overrated and in real life, Duran is one of my favorite fighters and I think that weak LW division or not, you could put Duran in with any LW he would have a good chance to come out on top, Mosley and Benny Leonard included.

The point of the thread is to take a guy who is recognized universally as an ATG and make a case against him. Old Duran's win over Barkley was one of his most compelling performances. Barkley gave a great fight to a Kalembay during Kalembay's peak. But to play devil's advocate, you could say that every time Iran Barkely stepped up, other than Hearns, he fell short, including to a way past it Duran.