Roberto Duran v.s Floyd Mayweather jr

Duran by midround KO. PBF has IMO the speed advantage, but that´s it. Duran would hurt PBF with combinations early. Here I see very few chances for Floyd...


Duran TKO 7 PBF

 

Yeah, you know, I rate PBF pretty high at 135 lbs head-to-head, but it wouldn´t be enough against Duran, who was really a monster at that weight...

 

Duran by UD. He'd just break Floyd down, mentally and physically.

 

I dunno why, but it annoys me the way you spell Floyd's last name. :huh

 

Duran too strong to the head and body would stop Floyd by 10, unless Floyd ran his ass off for a later stop by Duran, Roberto in a different class

 

Unless Floyd fought the smartest fight in his life, and had the speed to stick and move and never get caught, I would pick Duran.

The same Floyd who came to fight De La Hoya would be trounced soundly by Roberto.

 

Duran by UD

 

Duran would put alot of pressure. Interesting to see if Mayweather would fold. I would like to say Duran would just roll over him, BUT Duran did have problems with Fast,Slick boxers!, Dejesus, Leonard, Benitez.

 

duran would have knocked him out with a shot tothe balls just like how he won the title

 

I'm going to go against the grain and pick Mayweather by UD.

The Mayweather that fought De La Hoya is in no way the best version of Floyd - At 135lbs, he was lighter on his feet, had better handspeed, and due to fighting fighters of a similar size he was more than willing to box on the inside (a VERY underrated skill of his) and put combinations together.

He did seem to have some trouble with Castillo in the 2nd half of the fight, but I still think he beat him by a point or two, and figured out his swarming style perfectly for their rematch.

Duran was a lethal lightweight, probably the best ever, but even his most ardent fans must admit that that stylistically, he wasn't as comfortable with slick boxers with nifty footwork who didn't engage him. Any lightweight that brought the fight to Duran would be mauled. But Floyd is his worst nightmare - He could do what Ray Leonard did to him in their rematch, possibly to greater effect and with even greater caution. I could see him boxing with Duran on the inside on occassion, and perhaps surprising him with how proficient a fighter he is, but this would be an opportunity for Duran to gain the upper hand with his viciousness and steal a few rounds.

Down the stretch I think Floyd, tough but perhaps shaken up a little, would tighten up his "gameplan" and frustrate Duran with his stick and move specialty.

How Floyd fares against Hatton will give me a better idea of how he'd match up with Duran though - If Hatton steamrolls Floyd, then I can only imagine that Duran would do it worse. Hatton isn't as good as Duran, but he's still a bloodthirsty nonstop pressure fighter with clever footwork, and an ability to walk through any amount of punches. How Floyd handles his onslaught should give us a better idea of how he'd fare against Duran.

 

i think a lot of people exaggerate durans trouble with fast slick movers. most bring up leonard and benitez and i feel that at these higher weights duran had more trouble with them, but as a lightweight he seemed very effective at cutting off the ring and pressuring the boxers. I think this could best be seen as duran was able to k.o. vilomar fernandez, who beat arguello, as he ran around the ring virtually the whole fight. Duran's trouble with dejesus came mainly in the first fight when he really wasnt at his best yet, especially defensively, and one of the main problems coming with dejesus was slickness combined with the power to hurt duran, something i dont think mayweather had.