Opinions of old-timers back in 1980 on Duran as a lightweight. Interesting indeed.

Bernard Hopkins would have been a club fighter back in the 40's and 50's. Did you read that part? Whitaker gets slaughtered in it as well.

 

They are just highly influenced by their era's. It's that simple. Are they biased? To a certain extent, yes. They do make some valid points on Duran's quality of opposition at lightweight though. They covered some of his fights with Bizzaro, Fernandez and Ortiz. I must admit that some of the non-title bouts Duran had in the 1970's were indeed "laughable". Some of those fighters he fought had only 5 or 6 fights, and thats all they had in their entire careers. Some of their records were shocking. If you look at Duran's knockout percentage, it's these non-title bouts that make his punching power reputation very padded. He ran over the top of these fighters with ease. Can you imagine De La Hoya or Mosley having non-title bouts at lightweight between their defenses against guys who had records like 6-5-1, 10-6-1, 15-8. I'm sure they would have startched such poor opposition in the same manner.

 

Erik Arnold, boxing writer and historian: Duran was frustrated by Edwin Viruet, a speedster who lasted 25 rounds in two fights without ever being seriously hurt. I give Duran standing because he beat Esteban Dejesus in return matches. He is a great lightweight but I don't think he's close to being the greatest. Jimmy Carter and Carlos Ortiz would have beaten Duran. I think Enrique Bolanos, who gave Ike Williams a very tough time, would have whipped him. I mean I would probably put Duran in the top 20 lightweights but he would not rank very high. He would not beat Beau Jack. I think he would have his hands full with Lauro Salas.

"I saw the tape of Duran Vs. Lampkin fight a few years ago. It was supposed to be one of his greatest wins. I thought Duran looked awful in that fight. They had whole exchanges where not one shot landed. It was much ado about nothing. Mando Ramos, who was lightweight champ in the late 60's, would have given Duran life and death. Mando was not great but he was very talented. And Duran did not fight many guys with Mando's ability"

Hank Kaplan, the dean of American boxing historians, grew up in New York City. Saw his first professional fight in 1932: "Fighters like Eddie Cool, Wes Ramey and Eddie Ran - among numerous other lightweight contenders of the 30's - would have given Duran highly competitive fights. Ike Williams had the ability and natural skills to outscore Duran. A fight between Duran and Beau Jack would have packed Madison Square Garden. It would have been a very interesting fight."

Mike Capriano Jr: "I don't like to use the word 'great'. The greats to be are non-pareil fighters like Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson. Roberto Duran was standout. He had another dimension in that he was a good puncher.

"But Duran is not who we are talking about today. People who had knowledge trained him. He was durable and a terrific puncher. Duran also understood method of how defeat somebody. He knew where to be at the right time and hit you with those hard punches. Having said that, I believe Carlos Ortiz would have beaten Duran as a lightweight. Ortiz was an excellent boxer and puncher who knew how to maneuver, as did another outstanding lightweight of the 1950's, Joe Brown.

"If you saw Duran fight in the Garden when Esteban Dejesus outpointed him, it showed he was beatable by a good boxer. The good boxers are not letting the punchers knock them out. And there were many excellent boxers in the lightweight divison in the old days. If Duran turned pro 20 years earlier, he'd have to fight Bob Montgomery, Ike Williams and Beau Jack. Look at the records of these three champions and the type of fighters they beat. Duran never met fighters of this calibre. He wasn't as good as these fighters and he's not knocking them out. They could outbox him. He's not beating Henry Armstrong either.

"I like Duran. He was a very good boxer. He had fine ring generalship. He was better than Davey Day and Bobby Ruffin, who were contenders in the late 1930's and early 40's. He would also have beaten Paddy DeMarco. With Jimmy Carter, it's as close fight, but I like Duran over Carter.

"Is Duran a top 10 lightweight of all-time? I don't think so. I think there are too many great lightweights...Benny Leonard...Tony Canzoneri...Ike Williams. Duran is overrated. He is a very good fighter. But top ten? no."