Duran - Mosley H2H

I doubt he would let himself be pushed around by Margarito either though.

 

It's tough to gauge strength with Duran because he tends to comfortably outfundamental most fighters on the inside and can manipulate them physically because of it.

Hector Thompson was clearly stronger than a younger rawer Duran at lightweight though.

 

I think his strength is very evident in his lightweight fights and the majority of his welterweight fights. At light middleweight and middleweight, the skill factor comes very much into play as Barkley was clearly the stronger man, but Duran still hung in there unlike any other former lightweight probably would, especially a 37 year old one.

Thompson was a tank of a 135 lber and Duran took his best and took him out. Rumours have it that Duran suffered a rib injury from Thompson's body punching as well.

 

A very good example of a young Duran's handspeed and combinations in fact:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep6_RERDU2k[/ame]

 

If it's about pure strength, then Mosley probably has the edge. You often hear about his heroics in the weight-lifting department although that doesn't always translate into the ring. He lifts more than former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier for example.

 

Thompson reminds me of Tiger and Laporte.

beautiful left hook to the body he had.

 

Strength: Even

Punch Power: Duran

Accuracy: Duran

Hand Speed:Mosley

Footspeed: Mosley

Upper Body Movement- Duran

Combination Punching- Duran

Jabs- Duran

Hooks- Duran

Uppercuts- Duran

Chin- Duran

Heart: Mosley

Technique: Duran

 

Strength: Even

Punch Power: Duran (but not by much)

Accuracy: Duran

Hand Speed:Mosley

Footspeed: Duran

Upper Body Movement- Duran

Combination Punching- Duran

Jabs- Duran

Hooks- Duran

Uppercuts- Duran

Chin- Even, slight edge to Mosley who gets hit more often

Heart: Duran

Technique: Duran

I think if they actually fought, it would be closer than these sum of these attributes suggest, although the outcome would almost certainly favour Duran.

 

Duran was exceptionally strong. I think that this quality of his is routinely overlooked. How else could a 5'7 natural LW campaign for so long against larger men? He was box-shaped with a thick trunk and thick legs and while it is true that he ate himself out of the 135 division, he gained that "man-strength" as he did.

Interesting, though, how he knew his limitations. He didn't try to outbull Hagler or Barkley who were stronger than he was. By contrast he showed Leonard no respect in the trenches in Montreal because he knew that he was stronger than Ray, and had to get inside the speed.

 

He did go to war with Barkley in spots though, and it's interesting that it was the six foot Barkley that was hurt badly in that fight, not the former Lightweight. Quite remarkable.

 

He went to war, sure, but he wasn't trying to outmuscle him. He was exceedingly clever in that bout -in close and at angles, but he wasn't too concerned with moving walking him backward. That would have been stupid.

I remember him getting shoved back into the ropes mid-fight and bounding off them for leverage as he threw a combination up and down. Just great stuff.

The point is that he had to be very strong for a man his size to even make it a contest. Never mind winning. There is no other natural LW of the modern era that I can think of who could do this.

Pernell was at least as good as Duran in terms of skill, but Hagler would have had no problem with that little guy. The difference has got to be Duran's constitution.

 

:good Unfortunately, we do have some posters who frequent the Classic forum who can't seem to grasp why beating Barkley was such a monumental achievement for Duran at that point in his career.