Duran-Pryor

Probably from people that didn`t see Duran until he reached 154lbs. At lightweight he was every bit as fast as Pryor.

 

I have a hard time seeing the Prior that struggled at his peak mightily with DuJuan Johnson and get floored by a nobody like Akio Kameda stand up to a motivated Duran. Anything could happen, I'm sure, but folks would actually bet on Prior?

 

Arguello's slow rights landed pinpoint on the button, let Duran land his right which he will, and Pryor goes down face first after which he would be battered until they stopped it.

 

Duran hits harder and takes a better punch? I think not.

Pryor was a beast. Ray Leonard did not fight him! Was there any demand for Duran vs Pryor in the 1980's?

If they fought this would be a case where the less skilled fighter I think would win.

 

As usual you don't know what you're talking about. Yes Duran hit harder and had a better chin, he proved that when he went up in weight. He also had a hell of a lot better defense as well. Duran did offer Pryor 750K to fight him and at the time Pryor wanted the fight but he never had a manager and by the time he hired one, the offer had passed.

Pryor was then offered $750,000 to fight Roberto Duran in April 1981, but he turned it down because his new attorney told him not to sign anything until he worked out a new contract with manager Buddy LaRosa. By the time they worked out a new agreement, the chance to fight Duran was gone.

 

Van,

Duran hit harder than Pryor? I'll let the board judge that one. More often than not, Duran took guys the distance at 140 pounds or higher.

Pryor has 35 Ko's in 40 fights. That's power. Duran to me was more of an attrition type puncher

Okay-- the fight could have happened in 1981. What about after that date? Judging on how Duran was upset by Laing in 1982, maybe it's a good thing Duran didn't take this fight

 

Great points Kevin. Roberto was slightly vulnerable to speed and movement, and Pryor boxed like a dream at times against Arguello. Obviously, Aaron never fought a guy as physically hard and tough as Duran either.

Duran on a close but clear decision after 15 rounds seems about right. I'd have been stunned at a stoppage either way.

 

You know:yep

 

In his first 41 fights, ( at Lightweight or less ) Duran KO'd 36 opponents, so your point is?

Oh, and by the way, before he beat the WELTERWEIGHT Leonard he KO'd another 21 guys.

This makes me even more confused, as to your point.


The february 1980 issue of "THE RING" polled 25 boxing experts and asked
who was the greatest fighter ever. The result was:

1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Joe Louis
3. Henry Armstrong
4. Muhammad Ali
5. Benny Leonard
6. Willie Pep
7. Rocky Marciano
8. Jack Dempsey
9. Roberto Duran
10. Jack Johnson

Now you may or may NOT believe that Heavyweights deserve to be there, but I would say, as far as Duran is concerned it is far from a disgrace to up there with SRR, Homicide Hank, Benny Leonard, and Willie Pep.:good

 

If you want to see him lose to a regular lightweight, just watch the first De Jesus fight or (arguably) the first Viruet fight...

 

Yeah, I agree with this. Duran's power gets exaggerated a bit on this board. I've seen plenty of fights where he landed a ton of really sharp, really clean punches without putting his opponents down. Not sure that Pryor's power is all that different though, tbh.

 

I think it would be a competitive, exciting fight. Duran is a much better textbook fighter. Pryor was highly unorthodox and unpredictable. One factor could be Duran's conditioning. Would he make 140 comfortably? I would say the 1977-178 version of Duran could have fought at 140. I think Duran was a little more flexible than Arguello and would adapt to Pryor's funky movement better than Arguello did. He would go to the body try to make an inside fight of it. Pryor was probably a little faster than Duran, but Duran had the much better defense. Duran's chin was probably better, although Pryor showed he could quickly recover when hurt. Pryor would probably have a slight power advantage. Both guys could keep up a fast pace and had good stamina. I would say Duran would probably win a rather close UD in a very good, competitive fight.

 

Best match up I've seen on here for ages.
who wins at 140, I don't know??
IMO, the best lightweight ever, against the best ever light Welter.
Pryor would probably hit the deck a couple of times but get up.

 

I would favor Duran, esp Duran of Montreal. Just see over all better ability with Duran. And see a lot of holes he could exploit against Pryor. But I would pay a small fortune to have seen it. Probably would've been a fight of that year(between 79 and 81. ) and one of the all time great fights. One still talked about to this day.

 

The Duran that beat Leonard stops the Hawk and could do it early.