Question about Benitez vs Duran

GREAT GREAT POSTS CONTRO!! Excellent

 

well he wouldn't have beaten Hearns at 147.. That was too dominant and he took the punches flush. He never fought a guy as fast and who had a jab and right hand like Hearns. Never.. That is why Hearns was the only one to knock him out like that, including the next 17 years and 35 fights he had after.

 

Hearns won against Virgil. He was 32 and 30 pounds over his weight against an undefeated fighter and won at the same age Duran was 32.. You made the excuse not me.. You said 32 was too old. Hearns didn't have his number, Hearns was too fast and had that right hand. Duran never experienced that kind of punch. You think Leonard or Hagler or Benitez hit like Hearns? Again, Duran fought at 154 before Hearns did. Duran was not stopped like that even when he was 50,, and he was 32 when he fought Hearns. He never fought a Hearns level or puncher that is why. Let's be honest.

 

You keep bringing that up over and over again. It means nothing. He let himself get out of shape and fought at 154 back in 1978. He still was able to fight at 135 if he wanted to. Do you think Benitez could have gone down to that weight without losing muscle?

Look, when Duran started out as a very young pro, he was more like about 130. Benitez was already around 140 at same stage of his career. So Benitez going up to 154 would be like Duran going up to 144.

 

Jones carried McCallum. That's a fact.
Hearns wanted to fight Jones? Good for him, Duran wanted to fight Nigel Benn as a 50 year old man.

If Duran had lost some fights at 135he wouldn't have a lack of wins over great fighters.Buchanan and Dejesus weren't great because Duran smashed them and anyone else in his way at 135 and prevented them from becoming great.

Same as Joe Louis.
Duran beat everyone at his weight for the better part of a decade and most of the contenders were prime.

Most fighters have a lack of wins several divisions over their prime weight.
Leonard has only one great win at 160 and above(Hagler)
Hearns has one great win at 160 or above
Hill (Leonard was no longer great at that stage, just a great name)

 

and Duran could beat a guy like Benn maybe stylewise.. Yet I still think Benn was too fast as that sparring match showed, but Duran loved guys in his range and Benn would have been. Hearns punched out of range and was fast. Impossible for Duran. Buchanan and DeJesus were not great. Leonard beat Hearns, and Tommy still became great. You cannot beat the greatness out of someone. If they were great they would have been great and proved it against others. Didn't Cervantes beat DeJesus? Duran lacks wins against great fighters. That is a fact, and the Leonard fight was Ray as the variable.

 

I said in my post that Hearns had his number...
You're not making a point.
A great fighter got dominated/knocked out by another great fighter who was much bigger, younger and had his number stylistically.

....and?

Tyson vs Spinks
Tyson vs Holmes
De la hoya vs Chavez
Trinidad vs Whitaker
Canelo vs Cotto

It happens and while it's a great career defining moment for the younger great it doesn't really mean much for the aging great's legacy because it was a no lose situation for his legacy, it doesn't reflect at all on his peak(which was over) it's just for "extra credit"

 

Benitez, 17 years old, 138.5 lbs. Cevantes 31 years old, 140 lbs.

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1976-03-06 : Wilfred Benitez 138½ lbs beat Antonio Cervantes 140 lbs by SD in round 15 of 15

• Location: Hiram Bithorn Stadium, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Referee: Isaac Herrera 148-144
• Judge: Roberto Ramirez Sr. 147-142
• Judge: Jesus Celis 145-147

• WBA Light Welterweight Title (11th defense by Cervantes)

 

Duran was in good physical condition, but his training camp might have been psychologically debilitating. He was also motivated, because of his dislike of Benitez. But Benitez was simply too good for him at that point in both men's careers. Benitez also trained harder for Duran than he did for most of his opponents because of the fact that Duran had long had a feud of sorts with Puerto Rican fighters.

 

That was 1978 when he took a fight at a higher weight than he should have. 1978 was the same year that Duran was still a dominant LW, making the 135 weight limit. Hearns and Leonard at this point were already at Welter, a more natural weight for them.
Do you think Hearns could have made the 135 limit in 1978? I don’t think so. Not without anorexia or dehydration.
He was able to make that weight in 1976 as a skinny little kid and he was easily beaten by Pryor.

Duran was not that little? LOL:
http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Roberto_Duran_vs._Carlos_Mendoza
You think 119 is big?

 

That really points out the natural size difference between the two. Benitez at 17 was 140, Duran at 17 was 119.

 

He has no idea how ridiculous and agenda laden it makes him look and clings to it like a life jacket.

 

Here a video of Duran pre-Leonard I, where he was overweight from not being in top shape. He won anyway against a much bigger opponent. Even Howard Cosell commented that Duran looked puffy:

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So it’s not like “he was always in shape when he won”
And he certainly made sure that he was ready for Leonard later by trimming down and really looking cut.
That took a lot of motivation which he could not maintain throughout his career.

 

"Initially, Durán fought as a featherweight (127 lbs.), but his first title fight was for the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight championship (135 lbs.)"

From this article
https://howtheyplay.com/individual-sports/Why-Roberto-Durn-Is-the-Greatest-Boxer-of-All-Time

Just imagine how much damage he could have done if he had remained a featherweight.

It seems to me that most of his fights prior to Buchanan were at featherweight, and some were even at bantamweight.