Duran #1 P4P - What If

It depends on how he 2-1's Leonard. Their third match was completely irrelevant, if we won "uno mas" it wouldn't really change mosts' opinions of him.

If he 2-0'd Leonard and then lost uno mas when he was shot, though, that'd be a big deal.

Duran would be a shoo-in for top 5 P4P IMO if he had 2-0'd Leonard while it still mattered and beaten Pryor once or twice. Especially if he dominated Pryor.

Win(s) over Arguello would've been VERY nice, too, but they would have to come earlier than the Pryor wins. It'd be tricky, because if Duran had mashed a waning Arguello...then Pryor would take a hit for simply beating up on damaged goods.

I think the "ideal" scenario would be Duran UD'ing a still-on form Arguello before Pryor got to him. Pryor defeats Arguello twice in convincing manner, and then Duran mangles him. In this scenario, he still gets credit for all of the wins...and not for leftovers.

 

I think a win over Benitez would've been massive, mostly because I think Benitez (aside from Hearns) is about as bad a styles matchup for Duran as anybody.

 

If he had fought and beaten Antonio Cervantes for the Jr.Welterweight crown in the 70's when both men were in their primes, and then the rest his career played out the way it did with the exception of him just losing to Leonard instead of quitting and maybe stopping after he beat Castro, I think it's very likely that he would be in everyone's top 3, and conceivably could be #1.

 

Yeah, I think of all the names mentioned in this thread, Antonio Cervantes is the one he really SHOULD have fought, and it would have been a big scalp, for Antonio was a great fighter, and would have eclipsed all other Duran wins with the exception of Leonard of course.

As far as I'm concerned, Duran was never the same after Leonard I, and whilst it would be good to speculate that he could have taken on the likes of Pryor in the early 80's, really, he had already shot his bolt by then, and we no longer saw a great Duran, though he put up some admirable 'post-prime' performances.

Perhaps the other great fight he could have taken is a Benitez welterweight fight around 1979. If he had beaten Benitez around that time, I'm sure it would have done lots to arrest some of the lingering (somewhat unjustified imo) opinions that Duran struggled with boxers. I definitely would have favoured him to beat Wilfred in 1979, despite their encounter 3 years later being embarassingly one sided in Wilfred's favour.

If he beats Benitez and Cervantes in convincing fashion, he would be a lay down misere for top 5 and probably top 3 on plenty of people's lists.

 

Duran didn't stop Marcel Russell.The ref did, for seemingly no reason.

Regardless of wins over Cervantes or Benitez, his performance in the rematch against Leonard automatically keeps him off the top spot for me.

 

Say he did not quit but just lost a decision (like I said in my post), where would you rate him as it is?

 

Cervantes = one of the sports greatest, ever, I always have wanted that fight to happen, too, too bad when Duran approached him they never were able to make a deal.

Still, no matter what, Duran is on top ten lists for good reason.

 

What are the reasonss that the aforementioned fights never got made, if any?

 

Duran doesnt even need the AA & Pryor fights, all you have to do is change `no mas` to a close decision loss & remove his lacklustre Kirkland Lang type fights, possibly remove the Hearns blowout & virtually no-one would have him lower than 5 p4p.

You dont need to add any names to Durans list, he`s more than done enough there but people still hold some losses that could have been avoided against him - those same people also forget that before he started to slide, he had a record of 71-1 + gave Leonard his 1st & only defeat in his prime aswell as becoming in many eyes the greatest LWT who ever lived.

The good outweighs the bad with Duran by far - I have him 3 or 4 all time p4p.

:thumbsup

 

Pryor was simple not a big enough name if I remember correctly though he was considered as an opponent and Pryor even claimed to have signed a contract to fight Duran - not too sure on that one. Duran´s handlers didn´t want him to fight Cervantes because they thought he would be too dangerous.

 

Maybe a 70s victory over Cervantes could add to his resume; ditto a late 70s win over Benitez, but that is it.

Duran needed a No Mas or a Kirkland Laing defeat to be able redeem himself and prove his greatness.

Maybe he could of avoided Tommy, but I think most people reflect at The Motor City Cobra's brilliance in that fight; and if you are Duran fancy, you live with that.

And any Duran fan knows Roberto Duran retired on February 25th 1989.

 

Definitely. New Orleans means he will never be #1. Still, despite this he does well in all-time rankings (deservedly so).

 

Fighting Cervantes would not matter. Cervantes was a Jr. lightweight who should have moved up in weight if he thought he could beat Duran.

Duran should have been ranked in the top three. Extend any of the greats careers out as long as his and you would see some losses accumulate.