Who was the greatest fighter out of the fabulous 4?

Clearly Duran, imo and as voted by a collection of our fellow posters

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It's Roberto Duran. First of all, his longevity. The guy turned pro 5 years before Hagler, and almost an entire decade prior to Leonard and Hearns. Yet despite that, hadn't Hearns made a poor 2 fight comeback in the mid 2000's, Duran would have retired after all of them. This man was a professional boxer before Hagler had even picked up the sport, and had his victory over Barkley 2 years after Hagler retired.

Second of all, his resume. His victory over Leonard is clearly the best out of all of the rest of the Fab 4's wins, imo. Leonard was prime and Duran had moved up from his natural division, one he had spent 6 years reigning, yet still managed to outclass the greatest member of the Fab 4 aside from himself, who is also considered by most to be the second greatest Welterweight ever. As good as the victories the other fab 4 held over each other were, they were never quite that. Add some excellent wins over champs like Buchanan, De Jesus x2, Marcel, Palomino, Cuevas, Barkley at 37 and Ishimatsu, as well as some very good contenders like Fernandez, Viruet and Lampkin, and I think you have what is clearly the greatest of the 4.

 

I think both fights have some relevance.

Duran was coming off a huge win over Barkley when Leonard decisioned him.

And Leonard was coming off two good wins vs Hagler, Lalonde, and Hearns would go on to beat Virgil Hill.

Although in all honesty Duran didn't look like the same fighter vs Leonard in their 3rd fight, although that could be down to styles or maybe Duran just aged over night who knows.

 

In Order
Duran
Leonard
Hagler
Hearns

 

This is how I order them, too Noel. I could see Hagler & Hearns the other way around, as they were in the poll I posted a few posts up, but otherwise I can't see them ordered any differently.

 

Yeh Greg the only possible dispute is the ranking of Hagler and Hearns

 

Same order as mine.

 

99% of most people will probably say Duran and I can understand the reasoning behind it. But I pick Leonard because he had the best record against the other 3 and jammed more quality in a smaller number of fights. It’s a shame that is inactivity prevented him from expanding his legacy further

 

You pick Leonard because you're a perspicacious gentleman.

 

Just an average guy with his own opinion

 

Maybe you see further than other men because you stand on the shoulders of giants.

 

Greatness is not based on head to head but overall career. Durans acomplishments far outweigh Leonards

 

I know it isn’t. But he did better out of the field of the four of them against each other. And while I can see arguments favoring Duran I can also see some that point to the contrary

 

So do you agree Duran accomplished more than Leonard? Fine if you don`t,just interested

 

I think both men’s resumes have very different strengths and it depends on where you place more weight. Duran Is commonly ( and perhaps rightfully ) credited as being the best lightweight of all time. He was the first to dent Ray Leonard’s perfection. He had longevity that was absolutely incredible and is one of the few men in the post modern era to have fought in over a hundred bouts. Ray Leonard has the Olympic gold medal. Wins over Benitez, Duran, Hearns, Hagler and a few other belt holders and contenders. He doesn’t have losses to people like Kirkland Laing or Robbie Simms. Again it just depends on where you place the most stop and I respect anyone who rated Duran higher. I’m in the minority who simply claims that Leonard was the best of the fabulous four.