duran v leonard greatness comparison.

[DoctorIron]

As for Duran moving up to MW to beat Barkley.

Times change man. The 90's and current MW Era is much much deeper.

Sure Duran could beat one Dem slugger Barkley. But can he beat Gennady Golevkin if it was GGG that night?

Or Peter Quillien? It's one thing to take shots from Barkley, another to take shots from Golevkin.

If Duran moved up in today's era.. I think he will end up flat on his back.

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by DoctorIron

Roberto Duran was a tuff champion.
a Rich Man's Gatti if you will.

Good power, big heart, decent foot work, semi decent jab and a passable inside game.

I rate Duran on the same tier as that of Frank Bruno, except Duran had more luck.

If Bruno knew how to finish or landed that punch 20 seconds earilier against Prime Tyson. He would have had a Leonard like Victory on his resume as well.


Sugar Ray Leonard on the other hand is God .

Originally Posted by DoctorIron

As for Duran moving up to MW to beat Barkley.

Times change man. The 90's and current MW Era is much much deeper.

Sure Duran could beat one Dem slugger Barkley. But can he beat Gennady Golevkin if it was GGG that night?

Or Peter Quillien? It's one thing to take shots from Barkley, another to take shots from Golevkin.

If Duran moved up in today's era.. I think he will end up flat on his back.

This post is outrageous! You spelled tough, 'tuff'. Madness!

[DoctorIron]

Originally Posted by orriray59

They're absolutely on the same tier, so to speak. I still view Duran as the overall greater fighter despite Leonard's resume of opponents beaten is superior, in my opinion. Duran's beaten some truly great opponents and his reign of terror over the lightweight division is the stuff of legends, really.
Re-matched the only man to ever beat him, stopping him within the distance twice in two spectacular performances, the third being an utter masterclass and a maelstrom of intelligent pressure and offense.

Beat the hell out of Ken Buchanan, also. It goes a long way to note his incredible weight-jumping prowess, stepping up to take Hagler the distance, drop Iran Barkley and beat him in a thriller, and batter up-and-comer Davey Moore in a one-sided destruction.

Meanwhile, Leonard cleans house at the welterweight division, defeating such men as Benitez, Hearns, Green, Price, Duran, etc. Moved up a weight class to overcome Ayub Kalule, also. Just a great fighter and a list of who's who in the welterweight division at the time.

I'm sure some will say that Hands of Stone lost to the greatest boxers he ever fought, of course. Overlooking perhaps the greatest win in the Fabulous Four's entire careers over a prime Sugar Ray Leonard, and the fact that almost all of his losses came when he was past his prime fighting in weight divisions he shouldn't be competing in.

You can't be more wrong man.
He wasn't past his prime when he fought Tommy Hearns. Duran made weight prefectly and told the world
'im in the best shape of my life'

He was past his prime in 1989 onwards. Fighters age differently man.

Bernard Hopkins was still eilte fighting Pavlik at age 43.


Now I'm not saying he was still 'prime' against Barkley. No I'm not,but he was definitely still elite. The truth is the Barkley fight open my eyes to his limitations.

Duran can't deal with movement or combination punching. He got a good jab for a tiny guy and he is a tuff inside fighter.. but tuffness just can't get you past the World Class fighters .

Tuffness gets you only so far. Roberto Duran is like Buster Douglas in that they both had one great moment and people forever focus on that moment for the rest of boxing history.


I rate Duran though as a good belt holder and I think he will be a top 5 fighter in today's 147 division.

[MAG1965]

Originally Posted by Hands of Iron

I think I'm giving him credit for what he was able to do before he even fought Duran -- why pretend the guy didnt ripple through the division like the beaming talent he was? Those wins over the 'ordinary' contenders count for sonething MAG. It gives his resume some bulk beyond the big names he has.

yeah but if people give fighters a top 10 ATG ranking for the mediocre guys, then where does Virgil Hill rank, who I think is underrated because he lacked the charisma Duran had. But Virgil beat some good guys. Or Hopkins or Jones. Tyson in his heavyweight reign, yet not many guys rank Mike lower than 25.

[Goyourownway]

Originally Posted by Gesta

A guy like Ray should not be KO'd by a past prime feather fisted former featherweight, even if he was shot.

What he really needed at that stage in his career to validate his legacy was a Pat Lawlor-type fighter to quit against.

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by Goyourownway

What he really needed at that stage in his career to validate his legacy was a Pat Lawlor-type fighter to quit against.

Known as No Mas II: I Can Quit You.

[Hands of Iron]

Leave Gennady out of this!

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by Hands of Iron

Leave Gennady out of this!

I want to believe GGG writes KO on his gloves. But I know its a Photoshop.

[Hands of Iron]

yeah, no. That was actually JeanPaulValley's avatar... McGrain annihilated him in some heated Lennox Lewis debate and I dont think hes been back since.

[LittleRed]

Originally Posted by Hands of Iron

yeah, no. That was actually JeanPaulValley's avatar... McGrain annihilated him in some heated Lennox Lewis debate and I dont think hes been back since.

Link?

[Theron]

Originally Posted by Hands of Iron

McGrain annihilated him in some heated Lennox Lewis debate and I dont think hes been back since.

[Hands of Iron]

Originally Posted by LittleRed

Link?

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

[ETM]

If Leonard was "green" going into Montreal to face Duran then Hearns was certainly "green" against Leonard in Vegas in `81.

[ETM]

Originally Posted by MAG1965

but careers can have 40 fights. Evander Holyfield won his first title against Qawi at 15 fights, yet I know Ray didn't have many fights after he won his first title compared to most. Hearns had 40 fights after he fought Cuevas, and Ray had something like 14. But he had the wins which the other guys couldn't get.

Would you rank Ray Leonard over Joe Louis in a P4P sense?

You can make the same arguement. Louis defended his title 25 times over 12 years and KOd almost all of them. Yet the upper part of his resume doesnt have the names that Leonard`s has.

[lufcrazy]

Hell if Leonard was green in Montreal then Duran was green in new Orleans.