Duran and Whitaker both impressed against these younger, bigger ATGs. Whitaker did even win in they eyes of many. Which effort was the most impressive, you'd say?
Whitaker arguably beat DLH, same can´t be said for Duran, so based on that I´m inclined to say Whitaker. On the other hand, Hagler was a superior fighter to DLH and Duran went up more weightclasses to face him. Close one but I still may go with Whitaker.
I'ts obviously got to be Duran IMHO:yep He was facing the SuperBeast in Hagler while such fainthearts such as Leonard & Hearns avoided their date with destiny as long as they could. Hearns broke his pinky & Leonard was heard burrowing 4 miles beneath the earths crust. Least we forget Duran steped up to face the Marvelous one just 14 months after the Laing debacle & just 12 months since the Batten walk out fight where King ripped up Durans contract & said you're finished. Name me another alleged washed up lightweight that fought for the undisputed 160 crown & just got pipped at the post & if over 12 would have been the 1st man in history to have won 4 Genuine crowns in differnt divisions. A masterful display from Duran of defensive & more so tactical nous to totally flumux Hagler & his corner. This fight did not hightlight Haglers flaws it highlighted Duran's all round brilliance even in defeat:deal This content is protected Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I had Whitaker winning by a point, but somehow I still find Duran's performance/achievement more impressive. Pea edged Oscar, but he wasn't all that impressive, it was a weird, **** fight. Duran pushing Marvelous like that was astounding.
Both fights were **** and even though Pea arguably won whilst Duran lost wide, given that Duran was so far removed from his best weight and still competitive, I'd say that was the more impressive performance. In and of itself, I thought Whitaker showed greater skill though, clearly.
As Hagler was the most capable opponent, I'd have to say Duran's win was more impressive, especially when you consider the weight and age factors. I think Whitaker being so game in that fight (not shot by any means) is a credit to DLH as well, win or lose.
Hagler was clearly a more formidable MW in 1983 than DLH was a WW in 1997, and perhaps Duran was also further from his prime than Pea. This are all valid reasons to give Duran's perfomance the nod here. But I still give it to Pea's perfomance, since I feel he went for the win and perhaps should have gotten it. Duran made Hagler look a bit bad and was never really extended or hurt, but he also never even looked close to winning (on any competent judges' cards, that is) or even really going for the win. For me, it was a perfomance that had "respectable loss" written all over it and that can only go so far.
honestly, i could definitely see 6 or 7 rounds for duran. he made hagler miss...a lot. and just cause his counter overhand rights weren't hurting marvin doesn't mean they weren't scoring
Snide comments aside, I had Hagler winning clearly (something like 11-4), but Duran making most rounds competitive.
totally agree, it's the competitiveness of the rounds that makes the scoring tricky. while many rounds were clearly hagler few were CLEARLY duran but could go either way. i would say there's at least 4-6 swing rounds that reasonable arguments could be made for each fighter. depending on your scoring, it could be 11-4 or even 8-7.