Pernell Whittaker vs Roberto Duran

I think Duran wins on activity with Pernell making him look like an idiot the whole way through.

 

This is 50/50 for me

 

Duran UD

 

Not an unwinnable fight for either man, this.

Duran's lacking discipline as he went up in weight led to his feet being a little bit less fleet, and it exaggerated some of the stylistic issues he had. At 135, he often found himself frustrated by competent movers but rarely losing, but not as he got fatter. You put the Duran from the Moore or Benitez fights against Pernell or Floyd at 154, and it wouldn't surprise me if he lost wider than you'd expect.

At 135, you saw guys like Bizzaro, Lampkon, Fernandez, and the Viruet brothers were thorns in his side; they avoided the infight, the clinch and whenever Duran got too close for comfort, they moved. They did this and lost clearly; but those issues were real.

Whitaker has a ton of tools to present Duran with these issues but also win rounds at the same time; especially as they go up in weight. At Whitaker's absolute best, he had a creative defensive arsenal unlike anyone I've ever seen, on top of the tried and true defensive methods every boxer should know. His radar is perfect, and his balance - while often criticised - is pretty much spot on, specifically for avoiding punches. He has arguably the greatest southpaw jab of all time, with a stinging back-hand and some of the best feet you'll ever see. Regardless of who wins, Duran is absolutely going to struggle with this and that struggle will result in missing punches and eating leather.

However, if you look at the Buchanan fight; you'll see Duran absolutely crowding the **** outta Buchanan and Ken was by far the best man he fought at 135 imo; and that more animalistic and aggressive Duran could be a nightmare for Whitaker. He'd attack with abandon and when he misses, he'll just snarl and keep throwing.

The shifting right hand and uppercut he showed against Ortiz would find a home at some point, and they'd be real eye catching. They'd cover distance and let him get his underhooks in, the bodywork could weaken Whitaker's arms and Duran likes to uppercut to the chest. I think this would startle Whitaker's rhythm with his movement and jab, and that could be a real issue, too.

Ultimately, I have no idea who'd win, but my gut says Whitaker is bad for him, but my head says Duran is either the best or second best fighter ever - and he has everything he needs to win, too.

 

Good post mate.
Duran should win but I think Whitaker will really **** him off and we'll see Duran maybe losing concentration.

 

Duran by UD, but it would be close.

 

50/50 fight. I will say Whitaker by SD

 

If he quit when Leonard emasculated him with a little taunting, he’d curl up into a ball at Sweet Pea making him look foolish and lol-ing while doing it.

 

Up to and including welter Duran wins all day long. An older Duran at 154 I can see Pea winning

 

I think @George Crowcroft said everything that needed to be said about this one.
For my money, it's like this:
Duran has elite tier offense.
Whitaker has elite tier defense.

However, when you consider their opposite qualities, Duran has near-elite defense whereas Whitaker only has 'very good' offense imo. I think it's more likely to see Duran effectively chaining his defense into his offense here than Whitaker effectively chaining his offense into his defensive measures.

 

Great post Mr. C, well thought out.

 

poor ol lil p got handed a very competitive and difficult bout against Jose Luis Ramirez, a guy, that is not even half of what the pubescent Duran who beat Kobayashi was.

Not a single instance where Pernell wins this.

 

What about the Ramirez rematch? Whitaker dominated. In his prime at lightweight, Whitaker was so good he barely lost a round.