Overrated. He has over the top biased fanboys so that will always tilt things to being overrated. Like Tyson. He’s great, but his fanboys cry if you don’t put him #1 ever. They put one man over the sport.
Yeah, he dropped a Decision to De Jesus, a top 20 LW ATG, he also dropped De Jesus on his arse twice later on, De Jesus was just admittedly the better man in their first fight, but Duran was still improving. And so what if he quit against Leonard ? Everyone can see that Duran was in terrible condition that night, is it his fault that he messed up and quit ? Absolutely. But you conveniently ignore that he was not at his best that night. I mean seriously, Leonard gets credit for than win BECAUSE he made Duran quit, not because he actually beat him. Guess what, when both Duran and Leonard were at their best, Duran was better. What argument do you actually have that refutes my points ? Maidana gave Floyd hell with his jab and feints. Castillo went to the body, pressured him and pushed him around with his superior physical strength. Duran had a better use of feints and the jab than Maidana, and was a far better pressure fighter with deadly body shots in comparison to Castillo. The version of Duran who fought Leonard would make any version of Floyd scream in agony.
The Duran of Montreal was too quick footed, too good at feinting and too skilled inside, in the clinch and in negotiating from mid-range to up close. Floyd simply wasn't busy enough or powerful enough at welter to fight Duran off. Ray couldn't punch him off him and once Duran tagged him with the right, Ray found that he couldn't escape him. That Ray is a vastly superior fighter to any 147 lbs version of Floyd. Floyd is one of my favourite fighters - he is a 130 lbs specimen, upsets many greater LWs but H2H, at 147 lbs, his workrate and relative lack of power means that the likes of both Rays and Hearns will line him up, take his shots to land their own and they have the skillsets and power to land theirs, especially Hearns.
De Jesus wouldn’t be anywhere remotely close to top 20 if he hadn’t beaten Duran. So what if he quit against Leonard? SMH. You then go and dig up a winning Floyd performance when he was 37 years old against a guy who entered the ring around 160, and conveniently never mention the Castillo rematch like they all do. Duran was losing to Kirkland Laing and Sims at an age when Floyd was still best on the planet. Spineless reasoning.
There’s no such person as Montreal Duran. Leonard employed an intentionally aggressive gameplan in a tactical screw up and took an L for it.
Ha. Montreal Duran was more or less the same Duran that punished Palomino. Ray was the bigger man, the younger man and said he would dominate going into the fight. Check his and Angelo's pre fight amble. Ray was a boxer-puncher. He never continuously danced around the ring prior so his fighting the wrong fight, I don't buy it. There was never a plan for Ray to dance away from Duran prior to Roberto's lovely wife remarks. Montreal Duran was very real - watch the tape and appreciate the skillset.
"De Jesus wouldn't have been a top 20 LW if he hadn't beaten Duran", well he did, and even though it wasn't Duran at his peak, it was a still great version of Duran, who had recently defeated another top 20 LW in Buchanan. Also about the Castillo thing, he fought the wrong fight, did he actually fight anything like he did in the first bout ? If you don't give credit to Duran for beating Leonard, I'm not giving Floyd for overcoming Castillo in their rematch. And what are you even trying to prove with the age thing ? Fighters peak at a different age depending on their careers, you're acting as if longevity is more important than the overall career of a fighter. Archie Moore was one of the best in the world at an age when Ezzard Charles was shot, so Moore clearly was better than Charles, but we are not going to mention how Charles beat him 3 times because it doesn't matter. Again, say something that refutes my points and proves Floyd would beat Duran at 135 or 147. You're embarassing yourself here.
I give credit to Floyd for beating Castillo twice and give credit to Duran for beating Leonard once and quitting comically in the rematch. Since Floyd was so far past it for the Maidana fights, perhaps these fights resemble what a prime Floyd would look like against Duran. Who won those two fights again?
So we’re in harmonious agreement that Mayweather would approach a fight with Duran nothing like Leonard did in Montreal. Good to see we’re on the same page. The Benitez schooling is a much better barometer.
Did you seriously compare Maidana to Duran ? There is literally nothing Maidana does better than Duran, and he still only lost 7-5 and 8-4 against Floyd. Floyd was the best in the world at the age of 37 according to you, why are you all of a sudden claiming he was "so" past it ? Was he at his absolute peak? No. But he had dominated Canelo just prior to Maidana, he still was relatively close to his prime. Maidana almost beat a close to his prime Floyd by being a poor man's version of Duran.
I commend you for your praise of Floyd. Yes, he was pfp number 1 while being a shell of himself and fighting bigger, younger men. Truly a once in a generation talent.
Underrated.... No. Maybe the best ever. I never saw Willie Pep and do not claim to be an expert on defensive boxing. I saw Whitaker, and Benitez. Floyd IMO was better than both
