Would Benitez have beaten the Duran of Montreal ?

ok sure

 

Benitez never had the sufficient amount of movement to deal with the Montreal version of Duran. Does anyone fancy Leonard's chances to beat Duran standing in front of him? Well, we know what happened when he did. Benitez wasn't a mover, as he only did so within range. Circling, countering, prodding, all within range. When did you ever see Benitez move like Leonard did in New Orleans? Never. And what chance does he have against Duran backing into the ropes and trying to counter off them? He'd get killed. Benitez doesn't have Hearns like power or his pure boxing ability behind a busy jab. And he never once got on his toes behind the jab, ala Leonard, to constantly create distance and keep moving around the permeter.

People go on about Duran's inside work against Leonard. Rightly so. But check out his long range game when countering over Leonard's jab and stepping inside off his long range counters. You have to mind, Benitez will always be within range for Duran to feast upon.

The more I think about it, this might well resemble New Orelans all over again. The only thing Benitez has over Leonard at his very best is that he's a bit more adjustable and varied defensively at mid-range.

 

Again i'm going to highlight a 100% fact that you have posted, anyone wants to know about this fight refer to this, no point in debating it, this is how it went down, all the best posters on here already know this anyhow.

 

Bah, he just said the same thing as me, and I posted before him. He's always stealing my wisdom, that novice.

 

Is that dandruff, or do you have a big crusty chip on your shoulder where Duran is concerned?

It's weird that Erik Morales can go from a barnstorming performance one minute, to a walking corpse one year later at the same weight, but Roberto Duran's performance two years later at a weight up (his 4th weight class at championship level) is enough to convince you that the version of him who defeated peak Ray Leonard would achieve the exact same result.

 

I remember reading that even at 140 lbs, Duran's mgmt didn't want to necessarily fight Benetiz.

Duran intimidated SRL in the first fight.

Benetiz had beaten Cervantes and wasn't intimidated by Duran.

I think Benetiz had the style to give Duran severe problems no matter when they fought.

 

The fight / win over Roberto Duran in early 1982 was Wilfred Benitez' LAST great effort and performance..... NO! Benitez never dropped or wobbled Duran with anything of note, however, he did stick, move, slide, jive & punched his way to victory over Duran on HBO......

Roberto Duran put on and then lost plenty of weight by the summer of 1981..... That right there will drain a mo-fo... And Duran still was porky at 157 pounds in his initial post "Leonard" fiasco fight of 1980 against Nino Gonzalez in Aug. of '81....

While I thought Duran looked physically fine at 152 against Benitez in 1982, I also believe Duran when he said he felt drained and his arms were heavy mid-way into his fight with Benitez.... Remember, "Duran-Benitez" was a 15 rounder........

Roberto Duran was much better conditioned in 1983 when he fought "Cuevas, Moore & Hagler" between 152 to 156 1/ 2 pounds......... Duran had seemingly made the necessary adjustments by then........

MR.BILL:bbbthumbsup

 

The Duran of the Leonard fight would have gotten to Benitez by the 9th round and brutilized him to a 15 rd. clear UD.

 

I have to say that the Duran of THAT night would have been a handfull for any welter in history and would have taken Benetiz to school

 

Morales? No idea what your talking about.

Benitez outboxed a good version of Duran, and would do the same to Montreal in my opinion. :good

 

That version of Roberto was good...the Montreal version was great.

I still think he give Roberto the fits...but less so..enough for Roberto to turn the fight.

 

Morales beat Pacquiao at aged 29 at sfw.

Produced a career best performance even while past-prime.

One year later he fought Pacquiao again at the same weight, but you deny Pac credit for this win because Morales was done by then.

And don't deny it, a simple search would refresh your memory.



Duran beat Leonard at aged 29 at ww.

Produced a career best performance even while past-prime.

Two years later at a higher weight, he fought Benitez and lost.

However, he clearly didn't suffer any decline at all over 2 years and 1 weight class because the 1980 version would have only achieved the same result.



All I'm saying is that it's weird how your standards change when fighters you are not a fan of (Pacquiao, Duran) are involved.

 

Are we talking about the thread question or about me, Dinamita?

The main difference between the Morales situation is that he was at the end of his career by that time. He had one more fight after Pacquiao and that was against the C level Diaz, and he lost a close decision. He never fought again.

Duran would go on to fight for a further 20 years, beating the likes of Barkley and going 15 rounds with a top 5 Middleweight of all time at his peak.

I don't think Pacquiao and Morales was due to styles, I thought Morales slowed down and Pacquiao improved.

I think Duran always has problems with an elusive target like Benitez, and I haven't seen enough evidence to sway my opinion.

 

Both. Your reasoning shows inconsistency with regard to past comments.

Duran lost to Kirkland Laing in his next fight, meaning he had lost 3 of his last 5. He was at a low point at the time. A different version to the 1980 one who beat Leonard at ww.

Whether Morales slowed down or not, Pacquiao was winning that fight.

But you have seen Duran-Leonard I. You seriously think Benitez would've been too elusive for that man? No chance.