Duran does have many admirers out there who run for an excuse anytime any his defeats are mentioned. Tyson followers are perhaps the worst culprits for it. Duran was a passion fighter who lacked disciplined and had an extremely patchy career after the 'No Mas' fight with Leonard in 1980. One such performance where his admirers struggle for excuses is the Benitez fight.
I'm not a huge fan of Canelo. I think Duran would beat the **** out of him. Maybe not as bad as Moore but he would beat on him something bad for 12 rounds.
Duran trained on an island basically for convicts. He was in top shape. Duran always had excuses (perhaps my favorite one is saying "Leonard didn't beat me, the IRS beat me"), and naturally, Duran said he was distracted by being around a bunch of dangerous criminals
What I read was that he over trained for that fight. At least that's what Arcel said, when he seen him, and Arcel wasn't involved in his training. But I'm not 100% sure what over training even means, unless you trained so much you never had time to recoup before the actual fight, or you lost so much weight that it affected your power. But if one watches the fight, Bernstein, who I don't believe is a huge Duran fan, mentioned after the Moore fight that it was a much better display by Duran who was only throwing single punches against Benitez and not his usual combinations. But that could mean he was over trained or it could mean something meaning was coming back at him when he did this. I'm not really sure.
If anyone picks Canelo to beat Duran . Then your boxing knowledge must be questioned . Duran doesn't even need to be at his best and he will still walk threw Canelo with ease . Duran TKOs Canelo in 8 .
Not Necessarily at Jr. Middle. Duran never again beat a "great" fighter after he left welter, and even lost to some lesser men above that weight.
Is Canelo remotely in the same class as Kirkland Laing, Robbie Simms and a blown up past prime Wilfred Benitez?
Was Benitez really blown up and past prime ? I know he was washed-up early but he was still only 23 against Duran and was coming off a good run of wins, he looked sharp as ever against Duran.
Fair enough and yes he was still sharp.. I don't know if Jr. Middle was his best class though, and his defining moment at 154 was "beating" Duran himself. Saul Avarez has spent much of his career at Jr. Middle. He's a proven star in that class and in his prime within these dimensions. Duran held some relevance in that division but his showings there were less than stellar.