Could any other lightweight fighter match Duran by moving all the way to 160 and win a world title?

Sam Langford could do it better lol

 

Langford never fought at lightweight though.

 

An out of it Packey McFarland beat Mike Gibbons, so he's one of the first I'd think of. Joe Gans too. Especially talking about the era of multiple belts per division

 

Floyd Mayweather beat two guys who became the middleweight champion - Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez. And he beat them easier than Duran beat Barkley.

That said, I don't know if Mayweather beats Barkley.

Then again, I don't know if a 37-year-old Duran beats Cotto or Alvarez, either. Duran barely won against Jeff Lanas before Barkley. I wasn't even sure Duran deserved the nod over Barkley. I remember the announcers screaming "Maybe that's a 10-7 round for Duran!" when he dropped Barkley. They were trying to give Duran every point they could.

But I'd say Mayweather.

 

Langford started at lightweight. He beat Joe Gans at 140, which is close enough.

 

But he failed to make Lightweight (if he had, he would have become Lightweight champion),

 

I would go with Armstrong, especially if we are talking the era of fractured championships and only needing a belt rather than unification. Many of us think he should and did accomplish it

 

Nyet

 

Armstrong could do it with ease in the alphabet era.

Gans would also have a shot with multiple belts floating around, but Armstrong is the sure bet.

Georges Carpentier fought at featherweight I believe, and he could have feasibly won a middleweight title, depending on who held that title of course.

Pernell Whitaker nabbed the belt at 154 from JC Vasquez, who was a solid if unspectacular titlist. Sweet Pea looked like he was almost pushing his dimensions to the brink in that fight, so 160 would probably be a stretch. Maybe in a circumstance where someone like Robert Allen or Daniel Geale got a strap he could do it, but probably not someone of Barkley's caliber.

 

Henry Armstrong came very close for a "version" of the MW Title.

Appears Sugar Ray Robinson was originally a Lightweight. but not a Ltwight Champion...and did win the MW Title.
"Robinson made his professional debut on October 4, 1940, winning via second-round stoppage over Joe Echevarria.[13] Robinson fought five more times in 1940, winning each time, with four wins coming by way of knockout.[13] In 1941, he defeated world champion Sammy Angott, future champion Marty Servo and former champion Fritzie Zivic. The Robinson-Angott fight was held above the lightweight limit, since Angott did not want to risk losing his lightweight title.


1940-03-01 : Henry Armstrong 142 lbs drew with Ceferino Garcia 153½ lbs by PTS in round 10 of 10.

• Location: Gilmore Stadium, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Referee: George Blake

• The fight was recognized as a World Middleweight Title fight only by the California State Athletic Commission. Garcia was also recognized as World Middleweight Champion by the New York State Athletic Commission, but the NYSAC version of the title wasn't on the line because the fight was scheduled for ten rounds, instead of fifteen.
• Most ringsiders felt that Armstrong had clearly won.
• According to Boxing: The 20th Century, Armstrong was offered $75,000 to fall in round four.
• The referee was the sole judge. This was George Blake's last assignment as a referee, according to his obituary in the New York Times on Dec. 21, 1952.

 

Hearns went from welterweight all the way to cruiserweight, winning the lightheavyweight title 2 times including beating Hill. But that is not lightweight. Duran did well he carried the weight better than anyone gives him credit for and he was a great fighter when in range. He could beat mostly anyone who was in range. When guys were faster and moved he had trouble. No matter what.

 

The "proposed" Cervantes v Duran fight would have been interesting.....with same-day weigh-ins at 140lbs.

 

I think Armstrong's best chance of doing it would always have been in the era that he fought in. Even with spilt titles today, Armstrong would have to weigh in substantially heavier than he did during his career to make it up to middleweight. I think his career high weight was around 148 which is barely a light-middleweight by modern standards and at his peak he weighed around the lightweight limit for most of his welterweight title defenses.

Then you add in the modern day-before weigh ins and the practice most modern fighters have of gaining substantial weight between weigh in and the actual fight and I'm not sure Armstrong could physically make it beyond welterweight (unless there was some serious catchweight stipulations in place).

I guess it could be argued that Mayweather has virtually done the equivalent of what Duran did by going from the 130 to 154 titles, only a pound less than Duran's 135 to 160 title achievements, although I don't think he did it quite as impressively.

 

You might need to reword the question from a technical viewpoint.

SRR was at one time a professional lightweight fighter and he certainly won the middleweight title. I'd back him over both Barkley and Hagler too.