Chavez vs. Duran peak/peak at 135.

The highlights of Duran knocking out opponents on the video clips are impressive. But if you look at his record, those KO's mostly came in long gruelling affairs down the stretch. Buchanan was a low blow after the bell during the 13th, De Jesus II was down the stretch in the 11th, Lampkin was the 14th round, and many others after 10 rounds. Duran was a powerful KO artist at lightweight, but his punching ability doesn't quite measure up to that of Hearns and Tyson, although both those guys fought in higher divisions and "pound for pound" obviously punched harder.

Tyson got Berbick, Holmes, and Spinks out there all within 4 rounds. Hearns smacked Cuevas senseless inside 2 rounds, and string of others before he won the title. Duran never got the job done that early, sometimes, but most of the time it was late.

This is why Id take Whitaker to decision Duran. Whitaker wouldn't be there enough for Duran to soften him up to get him into position to reel off a 2-3 punch burst for a KO.

 

You're saying Duran wasn't a big hitter at lightweight. I think that tells me all I need to know about whether I should even bother countering your argument or not.

 

Agreed. Whitaker has too much ring knowledge to let Duran dominate him. His movement, ability to fight effectively while backing up, and his spearing long range jab would be too much for Duran.

 

OH I THINK IT DOES. R U GOING TO TELL ME THAT TITO HAD A GREAT CHIN. HE GOT KNOCKED DOWN A FEW TIMES AND COMEBACK TO WIN

 

I'm very confident in a Duran UD. If there is any fight virtually guaranteed to be a classic, it's this one. I'd pay a small fortune to see it.

Duran gave us a wonderful example of how he dealt with pressure fighters in his match against Pipino Cuevas. While Chavez is craftier and greater than Pipino, Duran showed that he matches up well with pure pressure fighters through ring intelligence, boxing ability, a good counterpunch and simple guile.

He'd outbox and outbrawl Chavez through subtleties. I'm sure he'd do more damage in the fight, too. 9-6, Duran.

 

For the record, Duran is by far my favorite fighter, and if I had to bet my life, I'd take Whitaker against him. Just a bad matchup stylistically, and between ATG's, that's usually what seperates them.

 

Duran is also my favourite fighter of all time. I have a framed photo of him between rounds on his stool from the first Leonard fight, with Arcel leaning through the ropes getting Duran's ear. Got a Duran signed glove, and a Whitaker one as well.

Duran doesn't make Whitaker miss and make him pay as much as Whitaker does the other way around.

Whitaker sure has the movement and ring generalship to offset an aggressive Duran at 135lbs.

 

This would be a great match up simply because each fighter plays perfectly into the others offensive gameplan. Each is too good to suffer a knockout, so the question remains, who would be more effective against the other's style. Duran is a bit more intense & faster than Chavez. But although being outscored Chavez issues a physical beating to the body unmatched. Could Duran withstand the physical torture that Taylor endured? Or Rosario & Mayweather for that matter. Chavez doesen't throw wild roundhouse punches, but his punches are very effective. Duran's raw aggression will carry him early on and he however never quits( New Orleans aside). In a latin war Duran would be at his best & would need to be for this one. A good question is the late rounds. Always entering the 11th & 12th rounds Chavez seemed to really be hitting his stride. I have always be curious to see how he would have done in the true"Championship" rounds. 13-15. Although I don't see Duran taking a physical beating to a degree that Rosario & Taylor did. But in a fight were both fighters would be landing hard shots. Chavez' body attack will reap the benefits in the late rounds & slow Duran down. Chavez would close the gap. But Duran has too much heart to let it slip away. This most likely would go down to the last round & I can't think of who would dig down the deepest to pull it out. Pick' em.

 

I've always liked this match. Back around 1992 or 1993, after a USA Tuesday Night Fights victory for Duran, Duran claimed he wanted to drop to 154 or 147 to face Chavez. I would have wanted to see this fight even though it was way past Duran's peak.

Chavez' offense was more calculated, focused, and systematically destructive than that of Duran's. Duran was more fierce, stronger, and had a few more athletic gifts than Chavez at this weight.

Both fighters are vulnerable to taller fighers, and stand up a litte to tall againt them. This won't come into play in this fight.

Duran by decision. Duran's physical gifts win this affair, 115-113 in rounds; but more convincingly than the scoring shows.

 

Yikes, not this old saw again. :nono

Chavez quit against Oscar DLH. Unless you want to cut his some slack due to the fact that he was sick - literally - from swallowing blood.

Duran at welterweight and heavier was never a prime Duran. His prime was at lightweight. He just happened to be good enough to handle most of the best above his ideal weight and beyond his peak age.

And Duran claimed, basically, that he had to take a dump, and a body shot from Leonard left him worrying he was gonna do it right there on TV in front of zillions of people. I believe him. I've seen fighters vomit in the ring after swallowing blood and have to quit. It's easy to say what you'd do until you're there.

Several months ago the WBC Women's Super Bantamweight champ, Alejandra Marina Oliveras, admitted that she wasn't at her best during a title defense because she had to pee. I love Locomotora and cracked up at this remark.

Anyway, blah-blah-blah, back to the question at hand...

Duran's workrate was too much for Chavez. He put on even more pressure than Chavez. He was quicker with better footwork and an outstanding jab, which is often overlooked. It was key to Duran's offense - he seldom jumped in without setting up with the jab. And he didn't take many hard shots to the head - he turned with punches. Because of his lank hair he'd fling a halo of sweat when he dodged punches, making it seem like he'd been hit. But study the fights in slo-mo.

Close fight but a clear decision for Duran.

 

Ken Buchanan?

 

Duran by a pretty clear decision.

 

The laffs on you

 

Chavez was more prime for the Whitaker fight than what Duran was for the Leonard rematch.

Oh, and Chavez got schooled in that one. :good