You get two chances per, to defeat one of the Fab Three. Hagler is excluded and replaced with Benitez. Using the following 90's fighters, which 2, stylistically would you choose to fight each 80's king, at what weight(LW-LMW), and why? Oscar De La Hoya Felix Trinidad Shane Mosley Pernell Whitaker Ricardo Mayorga Vernon Forrest Fernando Vargas Ronald Winky Wright Sugar Ray Leonard Roberto Duran Thomas Hearns Wilfred Benitez
Are you wanting 2 who would have the best change against all 4 or the 2 best for fighting each of the 4?
two each with the best chance of beating each of the four. eg. Mayorga and Trinidad vs Hearns. (Mayorga and Trinidad cannot be picked now to fight the other 3)
There are alot of matches I won't pick, because the goal is to pick fighters who could possibly beat The Three, athough there are more entertaining matches that could be picked. I'll start with Duran. Choices: Whitaker(LW) and DelaHoya(WW). Whitaker poses serious problems for Duran. Great fight, too. DelaHoya won't be lured into a brawl like Duran was able to with Leonard. He's sharp enough and moves enough to make it interesting... Leonard- Choices: Forrest(WW) and DelaHoya(WW). Forrest I see as having the better chance, here, being a long, strong, fast boxer that knows how to negate speed. DelaHoya could make it a fight, but is a full step behind in every area. Benitez- Choices: Trinidad(WW) and Mayorga(WW). Trinidad because of the power and that he could deal with the lack of power and assert himself as the stalker. Probably loses a decision, though. Mayorga because the face-off would be priceless and Benitez' chin could be dented. Mayorga doesn't care and would be a real threat for the first couple of rounds... Hearns- Choices: Trinidad(WW) and Whitaker(WW). I'll mention that Hearns is the biggest nightmare H2H on the list... Trinidad is a full step behind Hearns in about every area, and most likely loses, but can keep things interesting with the confidence and power. Whitaker is elusive (understatement) and durable enough to make is count. He could concievably pile up points by slipping and countering... That all said, all challengers probably lose, some in devastating fashion. It's a good reflection on the gap between the latest "greats" and the legends...
I think Winky would end up the best of all of them when he faces all four. He could go 2-2, beating Duran and Benitez. My second choice would be Trinidad. Why? Because he has the power and when he faces all 4 there is a good chance he at least catches one of them and goes 1-3.
Whitaker and Winky vs Duran. Whitaker at 130 simply because of how good he is, and Winky at 154, because this is not a peaK Duran, i wouldn't pick Winky against any of the others so i might as well use him here. Oscar and Mayorga vs Benites. I don;t favour either but Oscar is a good fighter at 147 and Mayorga has a puncher's chance, he has zero chance against the others imo. Tito and Mosley vs Hearns. I've always thought more of Tito's chances vs Hearns than everybody else does, i would only say at 147 though. Hearns was silder than people think, he was hypo and always came to fight, his defense isn't great, he will be punched, very hard, Tito is one of the best finishers of the past few decades. At 154 Hearns is much more composed as a boxer and he would probably use his tools to beat Tito. I still favour Hearns either way but i'll use Tito vs him at 147. Mosley i use here because he has a fine chin and is going to be able to slug with him at some point, i don't see him beating any of the others because of the styles match up, so he's being used here, he's probably going to eat heavy shots all night but he'll land as well. Forrest and Vargas vs Leonard. Forrest has a good punch, he is good against fast fighters because of his authoritative jab which he follows up with all kinds of power shots, and he can fight, he's the best bet for me here. Vargas i just had to use here because he's getting stopped by Hearns, he has a good chance vs Benitez but i had to use Mayorga there because of the way my picks have been laid out. Vargas isn't beating Duran, i mean he might at 154 but because of the styles match up he could be eaten by Duran, whereas Winky could do better imo. Vargas better just try and land and land big, he'll probably be ko'd without too much difficulty though.
:goodThis is what i was looking for. I could've explained it abit better in the OP. I'd personally go for this: Felix Trinidad 147lbs + Ricardo Mayorga 147lbs Vs Hearns Very difficult to pick against Hearns. I've gone with the two big punchers. And at 147lbs where his drainpipe legs give the punchers more chance of the lucky shot i feel. The reach advantage causes big problems for all of these opponents. Trinidad was a head on textbook power puncher with a vicious straight right and a vicious left hook he'd be looking to counter the jab with. Trinidad's chin was granite also, his counter left hook is the one he'd be looking for and it would definatley be a danger to the sometimes baby giraffe legged 147lb Hearns. Mayorga no match at all technically, but no one is matching Hearns technically. So i pick the most unorthodox fighter of the bunch against Hearns. Mayorga has serious knock out power which could come from anywhere, his rough-house tactics and unpredictable powerful punching would be better than a textbook approach against the Hitman, you can look to the Barkley fight for this, and the approach which Hagler took somewhat, in dealing with Hearns very effectively. Vernon Forrest 147lbs + Pernell Whitaker 135lbs Vs Roberto Duran These are very winnable fights for both men i believe. The two boxers of the bunch, Duran could be outboxed. Forrest has the physical attributes of Hearns which Duran had trouble getting beyond. Kirkland Laing was at a similar size advantage and was also a crafty, pure boxer that was all wrong for Duran. On the same note Forrest was all wrong for Mosley, who you could in alot of ways compare to Duran physically and in the style of pressure fighter they both are. Whitaker could also play the Leonard II game to great effect, maybe the LW Duran had that extra spring in his step to keep up with Whitaker and bully him, but i'll take the fastest version of Whitaker, as speed and elusiveness is what he'd need to employ(at which he excels anyway) to frustrate and outpoint Duran. Shane Mosley 147lbs + Ronald Winky Wright 154lbs Vs Sugar Ray Leonard I dont really favour either over Leonard. I've gone with two great chins to hold up against Leonard's power. Mosley's speed that rivals Leonard's. Winky's size and slickness that counter-balances Leonard's physicality and skill. Mosley's power is no joke, could he maybe draw Leonard into a brawl like Duran was able to? I think Mosley has the flurrying combo's, power and chin to match Leonard in a dogfight. Winky's chances would lie in smothering him and muscling him around, countering on the inside, what he does best, though i dont think he would have the strength to do this to Leonard, he has a better chance than anyone else here. Oscar De La Hoya 147lbs + Fernando Vargas 147lbs Vs Wilfred Benitez Oscar De La Hoya would be the best bet out of the bunch vs Benitez, i think. I chose him and Vargas for their high workrate, which could be the foil of Benitez. Both have huge hearts, good power and strong chins, Benitez would often coast and seem disinterested, he could very well be in danger of being outworked and drop a close decision, Hoya with his jab i feel may even be capable of outpointing Benitez on a good night, i believe stylistically Hoya could be favoured over Benitez.
:good Nice Post. I was thinking about the Forrest vs Duran pick but i really wanted to use him for Leonard. I really like 147 Duran though personally despite the loss he has at the weight he was really impressive and i don't see Forrest using much side to side movement, he has a fine jab but they will be engaging in a battle of skills and Forrest can be stopped. It's as good a pick though as any of the others bar Whitaker i'd say definitely. Whitaker for me has a much better chance as he'd be able to employ the Dejesus style of fighting, and regardless of styles, Whitaker is just class outright in every aspect of fighting. I usually refrain from talking stylistic issues when i talk about Pernell because he could do it all. You should just say Forrest vs Duran at 154 because it gives Forrest a better chance i'd say. That's why i went for Winky at the weight. Good post Pachilles, nice picks. It's interesting to see how people will structure their picks because in a way you might not be able to win them all so you're spreading your risk to get a best case scenario, great thread.
