Prime Roberto Duran vs ...

Maybe Whitaker. He may frustrate Duran and peck and poke his way to a decision. His Southpaw stance may play a role as well.

 

you are missing the fact that he did not face other ATG fighters in his whole career. So the only time we can rate him as fighting atg fighters, unfortunately is when he fought Leonard,Hearns,Benitez,Hagler. And he lost to all. A decade beyond? He was 28 when he fought Leonard or just turned 29. He was prime at 19? He had a fast lifestyle yet he could fight 17 years after the Hearns fight when he was near 50? Seems like excuses, which was always the thing about Duran. You gave me facts, but nothing to show he was ATG top 5 or even 10.. Top 25? Perhaps. but he really was beaten easily by guys at weights he fought before they did. That is fact. And saying I am trolling when I bring up these facts is in itself trolling, by your definition.

 

Buchanan was not an elite all time great fighter. You really he was? So we should say Buchanan was elite just to make Duran's lightweight record look better? Regardless of how good Buchanan was.

 

Prime Duran beats all of those on the list. We are talking the prime version here, not the hit or miss above 147, flabby version that lost to Kirkland Laing. Unlike against Hearns and Benitez, the only 2 that are naturally, arguably bigger than him on the list are Kostya, whom I think Duran brutalizes, and Pryor, whom I have Duran knocking out late.

 

Agree to disagree. Whitaker was a great fighter, but he simply didn't have the power to keep Duran off of him.

 

So you again say nothing of relevance that disputes what I said. He faced ATG fighters, in their best division at the time, at the peak of their powers, while himself not being in his prime and past his best weight. Nothing you said here disputes that, or can change that very relevant fact. Just because he had victories later on, DOESN'T make him prime them. What kind of assbackwards logic is that? Just because Jack had one final great Masters victory in 86, didn't make him prime then, nor in 83 or 84 or 85. Sometimes when you're that good, you can still do things that most couldn't, but that doesn't make you prime. I'm not sure what is so confusing about this point.

 

He could hit hard enough and sharp enough to get Duran`s respect. SweetPea fought a whole lot of strong aggressive guys and he knew how to tame them. Azumah Nelson, Julio Cesar Chavez among others. Whitaker wouldn't be looking for a knockout but he would be trying to break Duran`s timing and use that awkward Southpaw stance as well as that terrific balance.

The other names on that list would be dead meat walking to Duran looking to slug it out with him.

 

At lightweight where such a proposed fight would take place? Azumah was a natural featherweight and it was a past prime Chavez at 147 when they fought. We are talking about a prime 135 pound Duran here. And Duran was a better boxer than either Professor or Julio. Agree to disagree.

 

Duran beats Zab to death in 4 then taunts his lifeless corpse.

Kostya is about even through 6 but Duran imposed himself in the middle rounds and stops Tszyu late.

Duran bullies Mosley mentally and physically and wins a UD here. He makes it look easier than you might have guessed despite Mosley’s considerable psychical gifts at 135.

I think Pryor looks decent on paper if you go by his performance in the Arguello fights. But Duran isn’t gonna give him room to operate in this one. He mauls and muscles his way to a wide UD or late stoppage.

The Chavez fight is intriguing. My guess is it’d be close, back and forth action throughout...but that Duran is landing first and more often. He’s a bit better than JCC all around and controls the distance and pacing. He wins another UD here.

Armstrong-Duran is one of the all time great mythical action fights. Homicide Hank matches Duran’s intensity and this one is a brutal fight in a phone booth for 15 ferocious rounds. I’m on the fence. D15 in a phenomenal fight.

Whitaker...I know tons of people over the years discussing this fantasy fight don’t think Pete has the firepower to keep Duran honest. At 135, I think he has plenty. He fights well inside and out. Great underrated body puncher. Can match Duran’s craftiness and ring IQ. This is one of my all time favorite fantasy fights. I may be outnumbered here, but I lean toward Whitaker SD.

 

Armstrong was a mini joe frazier and his style of swarmer would not be a good idea against a guy that had a hammer blow

 

Good eye. Whitaker did have more on his punches than given credit for. He didn't stop a lot of people but in his prime he punched with authority especially to the body as you stated. He hurt Chavez during their fight and even put guys down with body shots in fights that wasn't expected. Rafael Pinada comes to mind.

 

Even as a WW, McGirt said, nobody hit him to the body like Pernell. He said his shots just do something weird to you, and took his gas tank away.

 

Yes and no mate. Armstrong himself is one of the greatest fighters in history and regularly makes top 5 on ATG lists. Matt McGrain had him #4 and did your peers in here. He was #2 on The rings Greatest 80 of the last 80 years.

In short he is an amazing fighter. his only two stoppages came in his first fight as a stringbean and in about his 132nd against a title holding ATG Welterweight so he has plenty of fight and durability.

You might be right in that Duran had a slight stylistic edge but i think Armstrongs sheer greatness gives him a decent shot.

Armstrongs own power is understated nowadays. Have a close look at what he did weighing between 130-135. His stoppage ratio is pure insanity!!! The guy was also knocking out welterweights while weighing in as a lightweight. Granted his insane workrate helped immensely but he knocked a lot of people out early too. The guy is insane.

The guy won the world Welterweight title over an ATG and defended it numerous times while weighing in as a lightweight.

I may even be understating things by saying Armstrong would have "a decent chance".

 

I'd say Armstrong would be favourite.
His record is better than Duran's.
He was better.
Duran has no "stylistic edge". No reach advantage. No extreme power Armstring hadn't dealt with before.

Duran has a decent chance.
But Armstrong is favourite.

 

After going on YouTube and watching some videos detailing the nuances of Duran's inside game l think he would beat Armstrong easier than most would think. There's two or three excellent videos particularly involving his fight against Palomino that show just how good he is fighting on the inside. I think he's probably the best ever or if not he's damn close and l think he brought the inside fighting game to another level.