Crawford’s Canelo win vs Duran’s Barkley win, which was more impressive?

Both at the same age, although the opponent’s age was different, Canelo was 35 and Barkley was 27, but Canelo is more skilled than Barkley.

Which win was more impressive?

 

Duran imo. Crawford's win is class but the weight jump is deceptive, given his history of weight cutting, in ring weights and the fact that Canelo is also a smaller SMW. Canelo and Crawford are around the same size. Meanwhile, Duran was a legitimate 25lbs heavier than his best weight division going against a big middleweight (for the time) in Barkley.

Stylistically, Duran was also able to beat Barkley in exchanges up close and inside which is insane to me. I will concede that Canelo is obviously better than Barkley as a boxer but the main hype for the win is the weight jump which to me is a bit smoke and mirrors imo.

 

Duran started at 119lb. Barkley was a monster.

 

crawford.

both of the bigger guys were limited. barkley more so.

big fan of iran but that's the truth.

 

I give the edge to Duran b/c he appeared to be on his last legs heading into the Barkley fight, whereas Crawford was still a candidate for p4p #1. Myself & others genuinely felt sorry for Duran before that fight.

 

I say the Barley win is more impressive, because Duran faced huge physcial disadvantages. Duran was 5ft.7 and Barkely 6ft1 (looked like a light heavyweight). Crawford had the height and reach advantage over Canelo. Also 37 on 1989 is not exactly 37 in 2025. Today fighters age better.

 

Barkley had just KOd ATG Thomas Hearns.. Canelo had just chased no name William Scull around for 12.. It's obviously Duran. Canelo is in poor form these days, he can't pull the trigger & hasn't stopped anyone since 2021. Also Barkley was legit much bigger than Duran.. 6'1 with a 74 inch reach. Canelo isn't bigger than Crawsnac.

 

Agreed. The idea of Duran winning felt like a flight of fancy and then his ability to call on all of his resources and set the scene of a competitive bout became quite palpable.

 

Crawford. Duran barely squeaked by Barkley and you can make a case that Barkley won. Crawford won decisively against a much more highly regarded champion.

 

Duran. He was a small middleweight. Crawford was a large welter. He walks around above 180 lbs, only needed to drop about 12-15 pounds for the Canelo fight. Barkley was the naturally bigger, stronger fighter and he was coming off a knockout win over Hearns.

 

The fact Canelo was a better fighter than Barkley is offset by the fact he's on the slide. Barkley, as we know, had recently iced Hearns. Further, we all have eyes. The Blade was a bigger man than all four. He held comical physical advantages over Duran who, somehow, managed to outhustle the champ - floored him, which Hearns never managed in two fights. Anyway you slice it...

 

Canelo was the absolute King of 168 and has been a P4P, Pay-Per-Viee manace for more than half a decade. You had multiple people predicting that Canelo would either beat the breaks off Crawford or knock him out at some point, including multiple pro boxers and coaches. People are now trying to back pedal and act as if this isn't a huge deal.

Canelo and Barkley aren't in the same zip code of skill, accomplishments, or h2h fighting ability. Duran had a mountain of experience against truly world class opponents. Crawford hadn't truly been tested or gone through the ringer like Duran, Canelo was a huge step up given that the most elite opponent Crawford faced (Spence) was beaten so soundly that Crawford wasn't really pushed all that hard.

 

Duran. Duran-Barkley was FOY. Probably his greatest achievement, considering his age, at least. Barkley was a buzzsaw.

Canelo was kind of a popcorn fart against Crawford. I can say it after the fact because I predicted a Crawford win anyway.

 

Both were very impressive.

Canelo is obviously better than what Barkley was.

However, Duran was tiny. He was only 5’7, with a tiny 66” reach.

So he was dwarfed in size by the huge Barkley.

Also, he’d fought an incredible 90 times.

So: I would say that Duran has the better win.

 

A lot more to look at than that.