What MW champions would you make an underdog to Roberto Duran?

Ceferino garcia,kelly pavlik?

 

No way Duran beats an in shape Joey.

 

Pavlik v Duran would be brutal. Durans footwork would own pavlik though.

 

Pavliks too hittable and Duran too clever IMO

if Duran lands with the right as he did early against Barkley, Duran is not gonna 'do a Taylor' and let Pavlik off the hook :deal

 

Duran could have beaten the Giardello who showed up, or more appropriately didn't show up against Terry Downes. That was as bad if not worse than "No Mas".

 

I haven't seen that A, as always :good

 

If you switched them out in each other's eras, I think Hopkins and Giardello's paths may've been somewhat similar. I honestly don't think Hopkins was the superior fighter, both at their best.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlGGug25ghY[/ame]

 

Giardello was not quite as consistent but with the kind of opposition Hopkins was fighting at middleweight for the most part, I can't see too many of them beating even an out of shape Giardello.

 

Cheers A.

I agree on the Hopkins comparison, but who wins between the two? Only seen Giardello vs Gil Turner, not a good stylistic counterpart to Hopkins, but would Giardellos business and movement cause Hop problems or would Hop win the battle of wits?

 

I see it as the kind of a fight that'd go to a close, possibly controversial decision each time, provided that Giardello is at his best of course.

The Downes fight is just one out of a hundred fights, much like the No Mas fight for Duran. No one should judge him based on that performance. All the boxing clinics Giardello put on against the best contenders of the era far outweigh that non-effort against Downes.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny_tiYLIFCw[/ame]

 

Giardello's right hand was every bit as good as Hopkins's, IMO. His jab might be the key factor here. Otherwise they utilized a somewhat similar stance, with Joey's left hand being a tad lower for the most part. They squared up the same way, with a slight tilt favoring their backfoot in order to offset the opponent's punching target and put themselves in a better position to counter, often with that right hand they both liked so much. Both were very good ring generals, so I think it would start off as a battle of wits that would've turned into a bit of an inside scrap and everything in between. They're so evenly matched that we'd probably see a little bit of it all from both of them in order to gain that edge. In the end, Joey's higher workrate and more consistent jab may've given him the slight edge. Hop's size/strength advantage may've given him an edge in close, though, even if Joey was every bit as cagey in there. Very tough call.

 

Agreed. I never would do. I rate Giardello fairly high, even though his career had it's up and downs in terms of win-loss from what uve seen of him he was a fantastic fighter. Never really delved into his losses much anyway, just look at the purple patches he had.

What would you say his best win/best filmed performance, if they're different choices :good

 

Funnily I watched Tito-Hopkins yesterday and Hopkins had an excellent jab there and he used it consistently to keep Tito off-balance.

 

As I say, having really appreciated Giardello in the bits I've seen of him (plus the Turner fight) I feel he's someone I need to see mire of and learn more about.