Floyd or Duran - Most skilled?

This is so ridiculous that I don't even know where to begin.

 

Benitez was definitely more complete than Floyd....he was a great body puncher and in his young days was very offensive.....

Floyd has the better defense IMO though....

 

Yeah, right.............

 

Duran had better instincts and overall awareness on the inside also. And better positioning. Not to mention his offensive skills at close quarters. By comparison, Mayweather (as brilliantly skilled as he is), looks somewhat robotic and rigid. Duran was probably the most skilled fighter I've ever seen.

Feints, too...Duran was a master feinter. As good as anybody ever.

 

Duran was definitely more well rounded than Mayweather, and with a higher overall level of skill.

 

Accuracy - Mayweather

Mayweather has such a low output that he has no choice but to be nearly perfect with every punch he throws. Mayweather by compubox statistics is more accurate then Roy Jones Jr and Pernell Whitaker, 2 fighters who were far more talented then Duran.

Timing - This kind of connects with the accuracy argument. Mayweather's ability to land the pull counter, check hook and leaping left hook is amazing. You rarely see Mayweather off balance or out of position throwing his punches. Everything lands as it was meant to land.

Range fighting Mayweather - Never seen Duran fight the majority of a fight off the back foot. Mayweather beat Castillo, Hatton and Corrales going backwards for the majority of the fight.

:rofl Duran was past prime in all his big losses. Didnt train well, wasnt focused, ect ect.

 

A common theme with Duran apologist hype up his success and downplay all his failures with excuses.

 

Duran's prime was maybe '74 to '80. He was too far above his natural weight class beyond 1980 to still be considered prime.

There's a difference between 'excuses' and 'reasons'. There are plenty of reasons for the majority of Duran's losses.

 

So was Floyd's prime 1998-2002 then?

 

You won't get an answer to that one prime doesn't apply when it cones to pbf.

 

I like that comparison; Floyd can make a lot of what he does look easy since he can do so much so well, but Duran in his prime rarely looked uncomfortable ever, no matter the range.

Again people are distracting from answering the question; Duran had less advantages against greater opposition, and performed as well as he did because of skill; you can't say he had height, reach, weight, age, strength, power, or even speed & chin advantages against Hagler, Barkley, Moore, etc. Floyd has had a number of physical advantages in most of his best wins (not his fault, he's simply a gifted athlete) and there exists a gap in how most would expect the two to perform against Duran's competition.

 

duran all day man and benitez was a defensive wizard to say mayweather has the better defense is foolish

 

Duran having competitive stretches against Hagler, and ultimately going the distance would be similar to Mayweather losing to somebody like Mike McCallum in his prime, but remaining competitive. It wouldn't diminish Mayweather's skills and if anything, would enhance them as he's currently in a past-prime state fighting in the junior middleweight division against a H2H monster at the weight. Furthering on that scenario, what people are doing in this thread would be similar to ignoring everything Mayweather showed skill-wise and technically from 130 up to the Ricky Hatton fight. It's frustrating.

Also, a number of people can't seem to grasp the simple concept that Duran was indeed past his prime fighting above welterweight (after 80+ fights no less and years of adding and losing weight). The proof was entirely in the footage. His footspeed decreased substantially making him more susceptible to rangy boxer/mover types and his handspeed clearly slowed as well. Add into that his waning focus, passion, and desire - when combined, made Duran the fierce fighting machine he was - and you're going to pile some losses onto your record. These aren't excuses; he lost to better fighters than he was at that point (and still managed to beat guys like Moore and Barkley as you said - which is a testament to his versatility, defense, and overall skill).

You're 100 percent right that people aren't answering the question. They're using generalities regarding Duran's all-time ranking, career trajectory, and his latter-career performances. There's nothing remotely in the way of a true discussion where respective skill-sets and facets of the sport are being debated and discussed. What can ya do, though?

 

That was one of the worst versions of Duran in there with Benitez, he was past the point of no return as far as being the real Duran that was the fighter of the 70s.... why don`t we use video`s of the man in his prime & judge his skills & timing etc.

 

Good post.