The trouble for Duran is that a prime Pacquiao feasted on guys who came forward and pressured him. And Pacquiao is one of the most difficult fighters to pin down.
Duran technical skill is above Pacman. He also has way better win at lightweight and welterweight compare to Pac. Duran got this. Duran is a top 10 atg. Pac is top 30.
At 135 definitely favor Duran. If we take the best of them at 147, I still would give Duran the edge.
again Duran is getting overrated. Pacman's resume is in many ways better wins than Duran's . I think the speed of Manny could win a UD over Duran.. I don't think Manny would fight Duran's fight. Duran was fighting at 154 as early as 1978 in tuneups. Pacman moved up already to even 130, and then moved up and beat Delahoya at 147 and wont titles at 154. Pacman had an incredible resume.
This. Pacman's inside game isn't good enough to keep Duran from wrecking him and his outside game isn't good enough to stop Duran from getting inside.
The title at 154 was a sham, with no real merit. That's not to say Pac wasn't great, but he never legit beat anyone who accomplished anything at 154, and the fight wasn't even at 154. Pac had an incredible resume, true. But he never dominated a weight class the way Duran dominated 135 in the 70s. And Duran's victory over SRL is far greater than any single win on Pac's ledger.
A prime Pacquiao was a very mobile fighter and was very difficult to pin against the ropes. The guys that were successful in doing so almost always paid the price.
I agree, Pacman at 154 was not so great, but the win over Ray was not a great win in light of the fact Ray was still rather green, sort of like Pernell when he first fought Ramirez, yet then improved by learning everything. And Ray outclassed Duran the last two times he fought him. So I am not sure how that is better than Pacman over Delahoya or Barrera or Morales, or really the whole career of fighting top guys always. I don't think one win overrides a list of title contenders.