Definitely. Yep real shame it never came around that fight. I may be on my own here but I see Duran getting a clear decision win.
I agree…I think Duran would have won it. Pryor would be fighting a guy in Duran who wouldn’t let Pryor overwhelm him like he did to others. Duran would be much tougher than anyone he faced before and I can see a UD for Duran or even a late stoppage.
Pryor wasn't champ when Duran moved to 147, Cervantes was but that's another story. Pryor actually won the 140 title after Duran and Leonard fought let alone in Roberto's welterweight build up which started more than 2 years prior.
Ah ok. My memory’s not as great as I thought it was…I thought Pryor was champ before the SRL/Duran fight. I better start a reboot by scanning Boxrec for 30 minutes a day!
Would Duran give him a fight? Of course he would, Duran that fought Leonard in Montreal beat all but about two welters in history. But unfortunately one of those two is the original "Sugar Ray". (The other is Hearns, he possessed physical advantages that would be extremely hard for Duran at any time.) Robinson would be able to control Duran's inside game slightly better than Leonard, also Robinson wouldn't allow Duran to get him out of his physical advantages by his playing on his psych , he wouldn't allow his emotions to blind him to the dangerous task at hand. So Robinson by convincing 15 rd ud, possibly or a late ko. The fight would be extremely tough, and the 1st 10rds would be very brutal and exciting. But I expect Robinson to be able to capitalize on Duran fading, where Leonard couldn't .
I am loathe to take any credit away from Duran or his victory in Montreal but I do feel that Leonard did voluntarily fight Roberto’s fight in some measure, at least during the initial and tone setting rounds. In the mid to later rounds Ray might’ve intended and tried to move more but he was in a rut by then, and Ray’s early round potential to move likely taken away by Duran’s fierce and concentrated body work. And even with Ray’s early round election to stand and fight and the damage it incurred, it waa still a very close fight imo. Within a contextual dynamic that favoured the essential Duran, Leonard pulled up impressively close after 15 gruelling and amazing rounds. I feel this is a realistic appraisal in order to calculate the dynamic and outcome between Robinson and Duran at WW. Robinson was superior all round fighter as compared to Ray and he also carried an even stronger punch. I don’t see Robinson letting his ego get the better of him or falling prey to another motive that would cause him to employ anything less than the optimal strategy - a perfect fusion of defence and offence. For a time, I see a highly entertaining and competitive fight but with SSR always maintaining a clear lead and, quite possibly, in the latter stages, Robinson just might have Roberto out on his feet if not KO’d outright. Just an opinion like all the quality ones already expressed……
That's true...I should have remembered that considering I watched Pryor win it live on tv. It was actually Cervantes who he skipped over, again because it wasn't worth a potential loss (although Duran would have destroyed 1980 Cervantes with no problem) to ruin a potential SRL fight. And by the time Pryor was a big money fighter, Duran wasn't anywhere near 140 lbs.
Duran had a much slicker defense than LaMotta. I believe Duran could force Robinson to miss many more punches than he was used to. Ray Leonard could tell us, he was on par with Robinson in the handspeed department and Duran had him swinging at air even rolling with the punches to take the steam off them. Roberto could do it from the pocket and be right on top of his opponent capitalizing with either hand. I wouldn't be surprised if Sugar visited the canvas at some point in the first 5 rounds. I could see Ray switching gears and keeping Duran on the outside in the 2nd half of the fight...Duran at his Welterweight best was quick himself and Robinson would have a good fast fight in front of him. Robinson didn't beat everyone by accident. He was a winner, very consistent so I gotta pick him to win it based on his versatility. To the OP yea probably his toughest put at 147 though Gavilan gave him a good scrap as well.
Regarding Duran skipping over 140. It was possibly a combination of things..He had struggled to make 135lbs for several years if not all of his title reign. Much of that of his own doing. I'm not sure if junior divisions carried the same respect and recognition of the full division championship then. Ray Leonard emerging from the Olympics generating crossover type of appeal maybe the biggest reason.. $$$$ Duran up to that point had not made the type of dollars a champion of his caliber was due. Leonard also happened to be the toughest challenge.
I think Ray Leonard was better than Robinson on the inside and better defensively. Robinson did carry alot more power in both hands though.
That's what it might come down to. Leonard was hurt so bad by Duran in those first 5 rounds that he couldn't make an adjustment. By that point he was fighting Duran off him as much as anything. Robinson may be able to survive being hurt and use his jab as you said get some separation from Duran. Ray is not gonna want to be inside with Duran after a few rounds. From the outside or at midrange Sugar Ray could land a lefthook. Or 3. He was phenomenal with those combinations. Ray dented some awesome chins.
I won’t debate many of your points because it’s very possible. I will say Durans greatest strength wasn’t an uncommon thing in Rays era what gave Roberto a very big edge was his old style of infighting, real infighting was a real lost piece of work in his time and so he held that as a massive advantage. Obviously because Duran was very good in general but also supremely educated at something most simply didn’t know or understand, it’s just Robinson won’t be as clueless as everyone else Duran fought chest to chest, he’ll know where to position himself and I don’t think Hearns hit harder then Robinson…
If I had to pick a guy to try to beat SRR in a one-off 15-rounder at welter, same-day weigh-in, I’d go with Hearns first and Leonard second. Montreal Duran would be close behind.
