Roberto Duran vs Aaron Pryor at 140 lbs, 15 rounds.

I dont think this is an easy fight for either man, but duran seems like the smart pick here. I could see him smotherinh Pryor's work and mauling him.

 

Duran would beat Pryor because of his boxing skills. Their both aggressive, killer etc but one guy has a slick defense integrated into his style. Pryor won't land as many clean shots.
I expect Duran to land some of the same punches Arguello did but @140 Duran's are gonna hurt Aaron.
Exciting fight.
Duran TKO 9th.

 

Yeah , Pryor's all out assaults got him dropped by lesser fighters,,he's fighting one of the greatest pound for pound fighters in history . Plus this is a fight where Duran has physical advantages which was never the case after he left 135. This will be a short blitzkrieg of action , Duran by 3rd or 4th round ko.

 

1. Durans nickname is Hands of Stone, he didn't get that from having rough skin
2. Pryor takes Duran's punches and laughs? not in this universe,I'm trying to imagine whoever launched an all out assault on Duran under 140?
3.Duran is bigger than Pryor, and yes he does hit harder ,by far
4. I'd pick a prime DeJesus to counter Aaron to death.
5. Pryors reckless attacks get him hurt and knocked out.

 

Didn’t Duran get dropped and beaten by DeJesus in his prime?

I would think that getting dropped, twice by one shot, by a fighter who was not a knockout puncher, would at least give Pryor some recognition, who after his first retirement had a record of 32-0 30KOs. (Cervantes and Arguello...vastly better than anything every faced at 135)

Duran weighed 138 pounds for this his first fight with DeJesus, so I don’t see how he has a physical advantage against Aaron who was a natural 140 and had a 3 inch reach advantage.

Pryor is usually considered to have one of the best chins in boxing history. I know Duran is great but he hit Buchanan with everything full force and Buchanan was still there after 15 rounds.

 

I appreciate the response and can appreciate your view, even if I don't share it. I think the one major area we disagree on is Alexis' power vs. Duran's. You think Alexis punched harder at 140 than Duran, and I simply can't agree with that. The reason this is important, is since I think Duran hit harder than Arguello at 140, thus seeing Alexis land at will, even while being more predictable than Duran, means Duran will land even more. What's more, not just land more, and possibly harder, he would go to the body WAY more then Alexis, and he would also be much harder to hit. Being naturally bigger than Alexis or Pryor, he's not as susceptible to Pryor's rushes and pressure. Duran has as good a chin as Alexis, but he won't be hit as much, and Alexis still was able to mix it up for 14 rounds before going down. I just seeing Pryor not being able to outbox duran from the outside, and becoming more and more hesitant taking the punishment Duran will dish out on the inside. I just see it as a tough stylistic fight for Pryor against Duran. He could win on workrate but I highly doubt it.

 

Great analysis and thanks for evenhanded response. Of course I am going to try to change your perspective but you may end up changing mine.

Digging right into the discussion...I would put forth the Buchanan fight for Duran punching power against a game opponent.

Duran was a complete volume puncher and throwing his hardest punches at Buchanan and landing basically all of them. Buchanan was there fighting back the entire fight. Same thing with the second DeJesus fight. Duran was primed for murder..was dropped in the first round and had a mini-war on his hands until he finally wore down DeJesus.

I cannot prove this, but we can debate it..at 135..if Alexis hits these men, including Duran himself, as much as Duran hit them, they would have been stopped much earlier.

As far as chin against Pryor, Duran was hit and almost dropped in the first round of the fight with Buchanan. Of course he was off balance and it would have been a flash but he was still hit and it would have counted if not for the ropes. DeJesus had him down with one shot twice, in the first round. Most of us would consider Pryor a premier puncher at 140 and all time p4p.

Duran of course is a defensive master but it really only was clearly revealed in the third fight with DeJesus. Otherwise, his best wins at 135 were pure Duranimal.

Duran at 140 does not hit Pryor with the fully loaded shot that Arguello did because Duran did not fight patiently at 135...he rushed up..when he did box patiently his fight went longer because he was systematically breaking down his opponents round by round.

Lastly..as far as size. Duran started his career at 122 and was a contender there before moving up to 135. Pryor was 140 his entire prime.

Thoughts?

 

Ray Arcel and Freddie Brown are two of the best of all time. You think they don’t know how to distract a ref?

 

Duran rarely stopped anyone of note post 135, and at 140 his better opponents saw the final bell.
Add to that Pryor's chin and his own KO record at 140...

 

I've no doubt Ken would have been standing after 15 rounds had Duran not thrown everything at his groin. The fight was stopped at the start of the 13th.

 

I actually think, although this is potentially a terrific fight, that this one suits Duran. Roberto was a master of slip and counter, one of the best we've seen. When he wanted to be, he was exceptionally difficult to hit clean and the minute an opponent missed him, the head was just under the opponent's chin and he was grafting away to the body. When the elbows come down he whips hooks over to the head or takes half a step back and threads the uppercut through the middle.
Despite Pryor's power and stamina I can't see anything but a Duran win by a comfortable decision or even late stoppage.

 

A terrific war for as long as it may last.
I like Duran here.
Duran carried the weight at welterweight very well. His legs and shoulders handled the physical growth well.
Pryors frame on the other hand suggest he reached his most effective weight at Jr.welter/ lightweight, he was not very wide across the shoulders and he was short. It's the main reason he was "blessed" and never received that fight with Leonard or Hearns, because they would've overpowered him
A fight with Duran would've eventually gotten into the trenches, where Duran's better strength and "intelligent aggression " would've been the difference. Between Duran and Arguello it's very doubtful Duran hit much harder than Arguello. If at all.
The difference is Duran's physical strength, foot speed, angles of attack, ability to wrestle for better position in close. The foot speed would've been key.
Where Arguello had a difficult time tracking Pryor, Duran would be able to keep close to Pryor, keep him in the phone booth. Eventually the better overall fighter , Duran would be able to do what seemed to be impossible, and wear Pryor down.
Around the 8thrd Duran's better overall ability would began to show. The fight would've gone from a all out war, between the two, to Duran's superior skills and strength beginning to take effect
Duran's in-fighting, superior physical strength and foot speed( In comparison to Arguello) would lead to a late Ko, between the 10-14th rd. Pryor would be game but out gunned, and overpowered, the ref would stop the fight.

 

Thanks for the corrections.