Agree Duran wins .. cool avatar btw , "Alright here we go, 2 to the Chezer, big bull to Tablations, 10 to Billy to match his w@ng, and the dealer gets a 3"
As a lightweight I think his best performances that I’ve seen are Brown and Laguna III but he lost right after Laguna III so and was a bit past 30 so he was a little past it then it’s fair to say. Probably around 62-65 would be considered his prime but he was a remarkably consistent fight for most of his career.
You'd have to favour Duran, great as Carlos was. He'd recognize the serious threat presented by such a hugely skilled man mountain of a lightweight and be at the apex of his powers come fight night, fired up to the eyeballs I'd bet. Ortiz was a bolshy, mouthy ******* too and a hard drinking bad-arse motherfecker who would probably wind Duran up pre-fight and be chomping at the bit himself. I could definitely see him taking serious umbrage at Duran's status and reputation....he did anyway in real life lol. I think he more or less maintains to this day that he'd have kicked Duran's arse best for best, bless him. Yeah.....a few choice insults either way pre-fight I reckon. Duran dropping his bollocks out and boasting what he'd do to Ortiz's mum, maybe a poke at his bald spot. Ortiz laughing at Duran's girly hair cut and threatening to drink him under the table even worse than the forthcoming in-ring beating. In a real time scenario where the young, lesser known Duran of the Buchanan fight faces Ortiz as a contender during the sixties, I think Ortiz is the one likely to suffer the upset loss. It's easy to see him taking the young Duran lightly and spending most of his training camp at the bar and being beaten by a surprising margin, like the first Laguna fight or a couple of his other defences but wider. Whip himself into serious shape for a rematch but still lose by a close margin maybe. I dunno. Duran was wilder and less cagey then and might not be able to bully Ortiz physically, who was an absolute tank. Buchanan was also very strong though and Duran showed him no respect whatsoever, though he did show serious respect for the physical power of Thompson and tempered his approach somewhat, only pouncing when he'd gotten Thompson hurt a bit. If it was non title fight during Duran's reign around the time of the DeJesus fight with a young Ortiz as the challenger, an Ortiz win is on the cards significantly. As he did with DeJesus though, I'd expect Duran to set matters straight with the title on the line in a close but clear fight. He only really coasted against Viruet and Bizarro etc when he didn't feel threatened and was developing his skill set. Ortiz had so many tools at his disposal but I think he'd be the one slightly more often having to adjust and fight how he didn't want to in the moment than vice-versa. Forced to fight when trying to box and then driven backwards when trying to take the initiative and open up on Duran. Duran 9-6 on points, maybe 8-6 with an even round or something (??)
It's just hard to pick anyone over Roberto Duran at lightweight, not saying he'd beat every lightweight in history because there's always someone who gives you trouble, but the man never lost at 135 pounds . Duran by UD over a very good fighter.
Thx Dog. R.P. has always been my personality since day one. Always rail and was ready to fight against bullies and those who condescended to others.
I was in the audience that day for the Bizarro (and the Viruet ) fights and never saw a greater fighter in my life. Years later I was at Nino and then MOORE, but the lightweight I saw was still the best fighter I ever saw.
Benny is so great. One of the 4 greatest fighters period that ever lived. But Roberto Duran was better.
