How is he rated? As a Welterweight I think most fans understand Duran would give alot of the great Welterweights hell and yes he would defeat some of them. Some he would lose to. I've haven't seen too many rate up with the greatest 147lbers. Top 5 or 10. I dont know you rate in terms of greatest Welters because he more or less made a pitstop.
There seems to be a lot we don't know about why Duran quit that night. To me I wouldn't have thought less of Duran even if Leonard beat him clean that night. Quitting was unfortunate and disgraceful especially after how he acted in victory after the first fight. All in all it would have been hard to expect Duran a career lightweight to do much better in such a stacked era for 147-160. Maybe I'm overlooking his poor performances because in my eyes after beating Leonard he really had nothing more to prove
I think it would be reasonable to have Duran in a Top-25, for Welterweight. Is that high? For some, it might be. But, as you suggest, it's not as though he's often, if ever, rated alongside Leonard, Napoles, Griffith et al.
His wins over Palomino and Leonard are very good. I think the Leonard win gets a bit overrated because Leonard gets overrated.
I'm not big on "greatness" rankings (just not my thing) but I think Duran is underrated head-to-head at welterweight.
I think, at the same time, Duran's win against Palomino is, in general, underrated because of his win over Leonard. Different fights, different tactics and the former is arguably the more technically proficient.
He would be favored over other great Welterweights. Just depends on which ones your referring to. Many would be pick em fight. There really is no mystery. We saw what he was capable of. Even the Palomino version would plenty good enough. Emile Griffith Carmen Basillio Jose Napoles Kid Gavilan Those are tough fights. He would certainly belong in there.
Your quoted perspective has historically been mine. I assumed in this thread that most if not all of us would share this perspective. With that said...it may seem like I am pushing back on something but my quest is to get as close an approximation of Duran at this weight. I think we it stands for me is that I need to get into the styles of the great Welters in history that have been mentioned and compare then with Duran. The idea I am also getting is that no other welter could have beaten Ray Leonard in Montreal other than Robinson and that is what makes this win so over the top special. I wonder how Ray would have fared against the style of Basilio in his prime. Perhaps well...but Carmen was essentially Duran-like in his day. Obliviously, neither Ray nor Duran cod seriously hurt Carmen. Carmen could deal with speed and defense. I think he matches up well with Leonard. Perhaps not Duran so much. I am not completely convinced that Durans won over Leonard was not just a one off with Duran at his absolute best and a young Leonard fighting the wrong fight. New Orleans Ray was much improved...and I wonder if Montreal Duran has any trouble with that version of Ray. I know I am getting into the weeds. Sorry about that
Yes, SRL gets a bit overrated at welterweight. I think he's top 10, maybe top 5, but people talk as if he's a lock for the top 2, some even go as far as to say #1 .... ..... it was a nice era, with great fighters and lovely TV coverage and hype .... and lot of people here were young during that time, or grew up in the shadow of it
Name me 5-10 you'd put above him. From 70's onwards its SRL, Hearns, Curry, Tito. SRL is second only to SRR @ WW for me.
