Whitaker vs. Duran

i have both the whitaker and duran career sets , i have watched whitakers and was virtually unbeatable at 135 but of the fights ive seen of duran his non stop aggression and punch power might be the difference.

whitaker is one of my fav fighters but im going to leave this one till ive watched all of duran fights

what a fight it would be

 

Why would a past-prime Duran fighting at lightmiddleweight tell you how a fight would go featuring a peak Duran at lightweight? I think 19lbs makes a little bit of a difference, as does the better part of a decade in time.

 

i have to go with whitaker in this matchup. the matador would tame the bull imo.

 

Duran's ESB Prime = Anytime in his career where an opponent doesn't use lateral movement against. Duran was only 30 and 18months removed from his career best performance, the following year he'd pick up 3 of his best wins. That isn't 'better part of decade a from prime', given his best performances were 18months and 3years prior to the Benitez fight.

19lbs over his best weight? Well he never made that weight again after the age of 26 and carried 147lbs, 154 and 160 fine against the styles that suited - his best weights no, but 154lbs certainly wasn't a problem against Moore/Cuevas

 

Yes, but at the same time we have to acknowledge that all fighters do deteriorate, either gradually or suddenly.
Chavez was already a primed fighter back in 1987, age 24/25.
It wouldn't be surprising if he was quickly deteriorating by 1993 and '94 at age 31.

 

That's a fair argument, but Marcel was the best defensive stylist imo and we saw how close that fight was, still didn't quite have the tools of a Whitaker or Benitez. Buchanan was a very technical smooth boxer, with good movement, some may argue he's on that level, I don't think he has the same tools for the job. Fernandez and Viruet are really a couple of levels below despite being good contenders

 

I followed Chavez since 84, just before he won the title from Martinez. By '93, 80-some fights of wear and tear into his career, a national hero living the softer life, drinking heavier, and fighting 15 pounds above his best weight, he was definitely on the downside.

That isn't revisionism; that's a fact, jack.

 

I think the point he was making is this thread is about Duran at his peak in the 1970s, weighing 135 pounds and fighting lightweights. vs. a Whitaker who is similarly fighting at 135.

 

This is always gonna be a close argument.

I think Pea has a pretty clear stylistic advantage. Hence, I pick him. Doesn't make Roberto any less beastly.

I also agree that Chavez was plenty formidable when he got schooled by Whitaker.

 

Whitaker wins this one.
If they both play their normal roles with Whitaker being the boxer and Duran being the agresive type. Whitaker is going to pick him apart all fight. If Duran decides to box, he might be a better boxer than I give him crdit for but he's still not a better boxer than Whitaker. We have seen what Whitaker can do when he takes the agresive role against a Duran type, in hes performance against Chavez.
There is no sernerio that I can see that Whitaker is not going to win.

 

I think he was in his prime in the mid-80 to late 80's. He was getting pretty soft, and prima donna-like by the early 90's. The Taylor fight was great but beyond that I think he was done as far as being the best his potential allowed. He definitely had "lost a step" as far as cutting the ring off, which became more and more glaring against movers.

Back to the topic at hand, I think anyone emphatically picking a winner in this one is mistaken. Otherwise, I hear both sides of the argument. Still think the best version of Duran at 135 beats the best version of Whitaker at 135.

 

Duran has too much firepower and ability at this weight...Duran