Who Was The Greater Fighter Roberto Duran Or Benny Leonard?

Duran, maybe the best Lightweight in history.

 

Leonard is arguably up there aswell though.

 

Yeah no arguments there

 

I go with Duran on the basis of his freakish longevity and chin at 135-147. Of course I have no issue with anybody rating Benny higher.

 

After, if i recall correctly Arcel even said Duran never had any really tough fights as champion compared to Leonard, sure it was in Boxing Illustrated back around 82/84 not sure. could even be 87 in world boxing, so long ago, but it stuck in my head, i only ever read boxing ill & KO but after 85 we had a news agent that sold the lot, someone on here'll have the mag it's in

 

I'll pick Duran but I just got done reading a book and rewatching a bunch of his fights.

 

Overall, I would have to say Duran. I think his resume compares favorably to most fighters in the history of the sport. When you consider the names he beat, and even those who he lost close decisions to along with the longevity of his career, it says a lot. From the footage I've seen of Leonard, I think Duran would have beat him head-to-head as well.

 

Not really.

 

Benny Leonard is better than Roberto Duran.

 

I suppose the tiebreaker goes to Duran in terms of winning titles at multiple weights. Even then it's close. Head-to-head they are evenly matched. A series of 10 fights is something like 5-5...or 6-4 Duran...or vice versa.

 

This one's a toss-up for me; I rank Leonard higher at Lightweight on the basis of his unreal title reign of the day- he had a combination of longevity while still being an active champion that is phenomenal by modern stanars, but virtually unparalleled given the typical short shelf-life of lighter weight champions in that era. He probably should've been the Welterweight champion, as well.

But Duran has that excellent post-lightweight career as well to make up for any shortfalls in a lightweight-lightweight matchup of which he's not far at all behind Leonard in my eyes anyways; frankly, I couldn't argue one man as being clearly higher than the other without feeling like I'm slighting the other.

 

Hands of Stone

 

You can take your pick.

For my money there are three lightweights who clearly stand out from the rest of the division, eg Gans Leonard and Duran.

 

Benny Leonard would beat Roberto Duran at 135 it might be compitive at times but in the end it would be a clear win for Leonard. Leonard's defense is better thn Duran's offence. Leonard's boxing skills are better than Duran's. This is no slight to Duran Leonard is just better.

 

Duran wins this one in my opinion and quiet easily .

I'm not impressed with Benny Leonard from the fights I've seen of him, he over reaches with his punches, his footwork is all over the place, he sticks his chin in the air and he looks off balance most of the time, his record is great but I don't rate him highly when it comes to Hd 2 Hd .