I have to go with Sweet Pea. Duran didnt do that good against slick fighters like Whitacker. This is another tough one to call!! HAHA! Good thread.
Duran would always top my greatest of all time list but I do think Whitaker probably would outpoint him, wrong style.
I'd strongly fancy Duran to win. IMO, it's too easy just to say "Duran struggled with slick boxers, so Whitaker would win". Duran is one of the top 10 boxers in history, maybe top 5. To just rule him out stylistically is a far too reductive and one-dimensional view of him as a fighter. A great fighter adapts to situations, and finds a way to show his greatness v the best opposition. People often make the mistake of thinking of the No Mas and the Hearns KO Duran when they think of him, but if he fought Whitaker it would be at lightweight, and that Duran was a different animal. And remember, Leonard was a slick boxer too, and Duran dragged him into his fight and beat him well. This is an H2H discussion, so you are talking about Duran on the best night of his lightweight career fighting Sweet Pea on the best night of his. I love Pea, I think he is the greatest fighter of the past 25 years, but I think an absolute peak Duran would be too much for him. Pea never fought anyone like a peak Duran. Duran would be too ferocious, too relentless, too incisive, for Pea to keep off of him for more than a few rounds. I take Whitaker to edge most of the early rounds, Duran to take control by the 5th and dominate the middle rounds, before Pea going for broke around the 11th and making the last 2 rounds a classic battle, but with Duran taking a close but unanimous decision.
Probably agree with every word! For what its worth, I have Duran as #1 LW (#3 P4P too) of all time and could only see Sweet Pea as coming close to beating him at the weight, but Duran still edges it for me!
