Well not according to Elbaum, Dundee, Lederman, Atlas, when asked they all picked Duran. 2-3 (Torres, Eddie Muhammad sat on the fence) and only Ortiz leaned every so slightly to Mayweather. But that don't matter because you're going to believe what you want to believe, regardless. But essentially you're wrong on all three counts. Angelo Dundee (Hall of Fame trainer of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, among many others): “Oh gosh, Duran’s a living legend. And one of the best fighters today is Floyd Mayweather. That would be some fight. I tell you – it would be Floyd Mayweather’s toughest encounter. Duran against a guy with quick hands like Mayweather – he could nullify that. Duran offset quick hands through feints, head feints, foot feints and foot movements. He was a complete fighter. He had all that stuff going for him. Then he nails you. Then he bulls you too. Mayweather would be facing something he never faced before. You’re saying the fight would be at lightweight? I like Duran. Duran was slick, smart, body puncher, made you fall short with punches. At lightweight I would like Duran. He could get under your skin too. He could con you. He had ways to bother you. He was like Muhammad Ali in that way, but he couldn’t speak English. Duran was a real psyche artist. “It’s tough. Mayweather always rises to the occasion. He impresses the hell out of me. I knew Duran from the inception – he trained at the Fifth Street Gym (Miami). I watched him all the time. A guy I trained, Duran was working with him – Vinnie Curto. A lightweight hurting a middleweight. There was no smarter, cuter fighter than Vinnie Curto. The only thing that bothered Duran was a long, left jab. And Mayweather doesn’t have that. Certain guys give certain guys problems. We haven’t seen what gives Mayweather problems. Are we talking 15 rounds? I like Duran. I like Duran. You’re talking about Mayweather going 15 rounds. Duran was pressure, pressure. He was strong. He could punch. God, he was a great lightweight. He takes advantage of every little thing. And he did it smooth, with grace. Everything was slick and smart. I like Duran.” Harold Lederman (World-renowned boxing judge): “Duran in his prime vs. Mayweather in his prime…without question, I think it would be no contest. I did see Roberto Duran in his prime. I was in Madison Square Garden the first time he came in he fought Benny Huertas in that incredible one round fight. When he knocked out Benny Huertas. But they went toe-to-toe for the better part of one round. And at the that time Duran made such a big hit that they brought him back after. And I was the judge in that first fight that Roberto Duran ever lost to Esteban DeJesus in Madison Square Garden, where Duran walked into a left hook in the second round and he was sitting on the canvas looking up at DeJesus. And DeJesus just cruised to a ten-round decision. They fought two times after that for the Lightweight championship and Duran won both of them. “But interestingly enough, Roberto Duran was an aggressive, very, very quick, very, very well trained, very well conditioned fighter. And when you look at Floyd Mayweather’s career, he did have trouble with a big Jose Luis Castillo at lightweight. And I think that, without question, I just don’t think that Mayweather, as good as he is, and he’s a very, very talented fighter, can hold off Duran. I mean, Duran was extremely aggressive. Hit very, very hard. Just an awful guy to beat. I mean, you had to be very, very strong and have a heckuva punch to hold him off. And Mayweather, although he has a good jab, has hand problems. I don’t think he can hit Duran hard enough, jab him hard enough without breaking his hands. And boy, when Mayweather hurts his hands you just know it. Because he starts going straight backwards, like he did with Famoso Hernandez and Victoriano Sosa. “But with Duran, you had to have a heckuva punch or a heckuva great left jab to keep him off of you. Duran would have hammered him to the body. Eventually probably stopped him in eight or nine rounds. http://www.boxinginsider.com/columns/experts-contemplate-duran-vs-mayweather-at-lightweight/
Sorry your comment was about SRL, not Duran, my bad. He too has just, if not better, ring IQ than Mayweather, Mayweather perhaps a bit better defense, but not by much, and he had a hell of a lot more power.
This just might be true, but intellect is also apart of a boxers performance. SRL was also a better boxer then Duran, yet he still lost, because he didn't fight him intelligently.
its too obvious, floyd cant beat ANYONE he hasnt already beaten. he is like 0 and 1000 in fantasy matchups, he even losses to B and C level fighters
He should have a hell of a lot more power, he started his career at WW and won titles at SMW. This kind of goes to show you how great Mayweather is- nobody talks about him against guys that campaigned between featherweight and junior welterweight. And I think most forget just how good of a fighter he actually was when he did campaign between SFW to JWW. People don't like him, so they hypothesize about these fights for him at WW. You know he's been out of his prime since 2005, right? His absolute prime was probably from the tail end of his SFW reign around 2001 and lasted until around 2005 at 140 lbs. i don't like his chances against guys like Ray robinson, Ray Leonard or tommy Hearns because they were so much bigger than him physically that it's an incredible mismatch regardless of skill sets. These guys fought with great success all the way to light heavy weight. It's like wondering how Floyd would do against Andre ward.
As for the topic at hand, I posted about this earlier. If both guys are in top shape without injuries going into the fight, I think it's a pick 'em fight. I could see floyds style giving Duran terrible fits, however I can also see Duran pressing the action and keeping Floyd pressed on the ropes for good periods of time in each round. Neither guy is going to dominate the other, I'm sure of that. Let's not pretend like Manos is going to knock a guy out as defensively sound as Mayweather (who also from limited footage can take a great punch.) and on the flip side, I don't think Mayweather outboxes him in some kind of dominant fashion. Duran for some reason is viewed by some as a brawler/slugger type when in fact he was a very good boxer-puncher who just had insane amount of power in both hands. I could see it go either way truthfully. Both guys excel at what the other guy has issues with.
It's hard to say how this fight would unfold but most experts who have seen both learn towards Duran, and a couple like Lederman, who judged some of Duran's fights think Duran would get the KO. I thought Lederman's comments about Mayweather having brittle hands and breaking them in at least two fights was a very interesting observation. As was Dundee's comment about Mayweather not having a long left jab, which he says is the only thing that troubled Duran. It's nice to not only get some comments about the style differences, but the technical details as to why one fighter would likely beat the other. Dundee also picked Duran and he'd be in a unique position to know since he was SRL's trainer.
Name me some B and C fighters that posters think Mayweather would loose to, because I haven't read anything along those lines at all. In fact, most of what I read suggests Mayweather's the best fighter of all time. If people are pitting him up against the likes of Duran or SRL that says something, because these are two of the best fighters I've seen in my lifetime, and to suggest he might lose to either one or both of these fighters is in no way an insult to Mayweather in the least.
SRL had a great comment about fighting Duran. He said I went into the fight as a boxer and came out of it as a fighter. He forced me to fight. I think that fight helped SRL tremendously when he was in the ring with Hearns and to a lesser extent Benitez.
I'm assuming this matchup is at 135-147, where it would be ideal...Mayweather wasn't a big rehydrater, during his 130 lb. reign he'd most likely be at 135 during same day weigh-ins, so 135 is an ideal matchup. Mayweather was skilled, intelligent, and physically gifted enough to give anyone at those divisions problems, and Duran would be no different, but Duran still wins. Throughout his career, Mayweather has had a tendency to allow himself to be outworked. He's an accurate puncher, but can be selective to a fault when he gets outworked, and often this comes when he's on the ropes. No one has been able to take advantage of this to the point where they score a win, although a lot of people (not me) scored the first Castillo fight in favor of JLC. Needless to say, landing clean shots on a swarming Jesus Chavez is much easier than landing them on a J.C. Chavez or Roberto Duran. Esteban Dejesus was able to land his left hook to drop Duran in the first 2 fights, and Mayweather would look to land this. Both fighters are very sound technically and have just about every punch in the book. Mayweather is a defensive virtuoso, but Duran was extremely hard to hit too. Duran's defensive performance in the 3rd Dejesus fight was actually more impressive than any of Floyd's defensive performances. Not only was the caliber of opposition very high in a lightweight Dejesus, but more importantly, it did not come at the expense of his offense. He destroyed Dejesus to the body, put on a slow beating, while repeatedly making Dejesus miss, and then countering (often to the ribs). Mayweather was lighter of foot in his 130-135 lb. days, and would have some success with his movement and boxing. The problem here is that Duran was also lighter or foot in his 135, and also 147 lb. days, than he was 154 and up. Just watch any of his 70s fights and then watch him post-No Mas. Duran wins a decision. 7-5, 8-4 in a 12 rounder, or 9-6, 10-5 in a 15 rounder. Competitive but clear.