Hearns even beat Virgil Hill at 175 20 pounds above 154. Virgil was undefeated and had 10 title defenses. it isn't about one weight class, it is about many with Thomas Hearns.
I agree. The problem is he was outclassed a few times, and usually against ATG fighters like Hearns,Benitez and Leonard. Speeds was Duran's achilles heel and guys who knew the fundamentals and distance and where to keep a fighter.
Brilliant win for hearns. How do you think a duran - hearns fight looks if it's down at 135? I view duran as the greatest lightweight in history who then moved through the weights fighting the best in the world: leonard, benitez, hearns, moore, hagler, barkley. 3 of those he could beat, 3 of those he couldn't. What strikes me is all of these fights were at the advantage of his opposition. Boil them all down to 135 and I favour duran over them all.
"Boil them all down to 135" and you'll have a bunch of weight-drained boxers who would be incapable of putting forth any type of credible effort.
Why not just match the WW Duran who fought Palamino and Leonard against Hearns at the same weight. That version is probably as good as any LW version anyway. So if Hearns boiled down to LW, he'd obviously be drained to the maximum. But if your talking about a version of Hearns at LW with equal power speed and no trouble making the weight, etc, why not just match him with the WW Duran. Lets be realistic. Duran v Hearns at WW.
That's my point. He fought these guys 20 pounds or more above his prime weight and people hold it against him when he loses?
skillwise to skillwise with Duran at 135 I still think the guys Benitez,Hearns and Leonard have a good chance to beat Duran. He didn't fight this caliber at lightweight.
I disagree. Duran just fought a different type of fighter when he moved up in weight. Guys with real boxing skill and great amateur pedigrees. Not to say he didn't fight some good lightweights but I don't think anyone would put guys like Kobiyashi and Buchanan on the same level as Leonard and Hearns.
Read my post mate. It makes sense. 100% sense. The prime WW Duran is on par with a prime LW version anyway.
I know lots of posters who would agree with me that the WW Duran at his best at that weight was as good as any LW version.
I know what you're saying and I agree. My point is that duran's prime weight was undoubtedly 135. Yet he fought leonard at 147, benitez and hearns at 154, hagler and barkley at 160. He was the one who moved in weight to fight these guys. He fought a prime version of these guys at their best weights. Had these guys fought duran at his best weight and boiled down to 135 i'm convinced he beats them. Which is why I don't put much stock on these losses.
This. Duran was an awesome fighting machine, and the greatest 135 lb champion ever. He just had a bad style for fighting Hearns. It could have been at 147, 154, 160, 168. Hearns wins.