Could Roberto Duran upset Tony Zale?

100 percent correct.

Duran at LW was indeed a better P4P fighter than Zale, but no way Roberto can beat him at MW. I could see Duran lasting the distance, however, but it wouldn't be terribly close.

 

No. In fact he's going to get hurt in this one. Badly.

 

I don't know what you mean by "any tie". Regardless im not saying i would pick Duran i was just pointing out that choosing an example of a boxer Zale beat and saying he beats Duran isn't an overly convincing argument. I am quite familiar wih the 30's and 40's MW's and Soose is an intriguing one especially with the 'what if' factor had it not been for his hand problems.

In general though i do think Zale is overrated and romanticized but alot of people especially considering the era he fought in while guys like Steele are hardly even remembered. In terms of accomplishment i rate guys like Steele, Yarosz, Overlin, Apostoli all over Zale.

 

OK my heads spinning. I still like Zale over Duran.
ps Soose had a landlord. His name was Georgie Abrams

 

and no Steele without McAvoy...

it's amazing how many great fighters get overlooked & forgotten. this is also where trying to rate fighters ALWAYS breakdown too. Because the fighters that get immortalized over & over again, too often it's taken as assumption that they would beat so and so, and I'm not even refering to across eras, but against greats from their own time. i.e the Steele, McAvoy example.

 

...So do i. Well in eras like that most guys do have a landlord even greats like Holman. Nice metaphor btw.

For sure. With Zale his fights with Graziano just got elevated like Gatti vs Ward status, some do, in spite of the fact there are alot of fights id rather watch that are better than Gatti vs Ward especially II and III. I'd be more interested in seeing the Apostoli/Conn fights than Zale/Graziano.

 

Oh gracious would Duran end up getting banged around. The only question is would he have lasted the 15?

 

I disagree w most here ... If Duran tried to slug w Zale he'd get hurt but let's say a better conditioned version of the Duran that fought Hagler fought Zale I could see Duran outboxing him and outfighting him ... Zale was a murderous puncher but I just don't see him in the class of fighter many do .. speed, movement and cunning could throw off his game .. Duran was a far better fighter ...

 

hya he. But Duran was always a natural 135-47 lb fighter at his best. His fight with Marvin Hagler was either an abberation or a bad night off for Hagler...In this fantasy fight we assume both Tony Zale and Roberto Duran are at their bests ,and Tony Zale preWW2 fought in a time of great MWs, and would be too much for the much smaller prime Duran...cheers.

 

I respect what Duran brought to the table as a middleweight. He could be dangerous with the right opponent in front of him. He was smart and crafty knew how to set guys up who came to him. He could still walk guys into shots and hurt them even at 160lbs.

With that said I understand that Zale was a helluva fighter pre WW2. I must defer to those who saw him at his peak.

 

Hhmmm interesting [url]http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5IpiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=oXcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6397,392979&dq=abrams+zale&hl=en[/url]
Looks like in 1981 30yr old Durans a 155/154 lb fighter.
Prime Zale is 158lb!
Both boys stand 5ft 7in
Not bad short $$$ HE

 

Ive always thought Duran would give Zale a hard time, maybe even beat him, It would be ornery vs ornery but I think Duran could beat him if he was at his best he could be at WW...At MW a prime Zale has his way with Duran though...Zale would have just been too much for him at MW, maybe even WW as well who knows!?

 

S, nice article on the Zale/ Georgie Abrams fight. As posted before I saw Georgie Abrams give Marcel Cerdan a helluva close fight at MSG. A short time later Georgie Abrams lost a controversial decision to Ray Robinson.
I would love to see the MW Roberto Duran hook up with the powerful prime dynamo Marcel Cerdan @ 160 lbs. TIMBER! Oh MY...

 

Duran wins, but Tony maybe would beat his body hard in the final 5 rounds. Duran would outbox him for most of the fight, to win a UD...

 

Roberto Duran is stepping back into the ring for a 3 rounder against Jorge Castro.