Duran v all Whitakers opponents how would he have fared and vice versa?

Leonard would have got Whitaker. Pitching good version of both into the matches and ignoring time spans i think that is the only difference. So i'm sticking to good versions and not trying to work on timelines. Also however in that case a 93 vintage of Whitaker quite possibly beats Oscar and Tito too if you get my drift.

 

His speed and power wouldn't have hurt either. Whitaker wouldn't have been able to pull a Duran on him and beat him physically and it sure would have gained him nothing stirring him up into a slugfest like Duran did. Whitaker has no chance for mine, none.

 

Whitaker would have his hands full with the very underrated Dejesus, Viuret, Fernandez and Mamby with the latter three being a stylistic nightmare for Whitaker and probably would've been
some of the most boring fights in history .
Whitaker flat out loses to Leonard prime vs prime.
Duran beats all of Whitaker's opponents convincingly at welter or
below prime vs prime or close too it. Toughest fights probably Mcgirt
Chavez, Ramrez Delohoya and Trinidad.

 

Whitaker would just walk Viruet, Fernandez, Mamby, Ortiz, Bizzarro and the like down imo like he did McGirt in the rematch and Paez. He was really good at cutting off the ring when the mood or necessity took him and could throw 80 punches a round advancing behind his jab with ease, head and body both. His offensive output was really prolific for a defensive master.

 

And while those guys did have mobility, they moved a lot more against Duran than they did against most other opponents because of his style and the threat he posed. They’d probably be less cautious with Pernell so I don’t think he has to run them all down.

 

There's that element too, yeah. My general point was just that Pea was too multifaceted to be at a stylistic disadvantage against movers and runners. But yeah, I could see some of them standing their ground a bit for the reason you stated, though I'd be interested in their responses to Whitaker's high punch rate, spiteful though not top level punch and his great infighting ability.

 

You also have the fact that even if Whitaker didn't chase them down, he was perfectly capable of fighting at their preferred distance and out-boxing them. He could even draw the lead and keep them turning in a tight circle.

Whitaker would whitewash the lot of them IMO.

 

I could see Whitaker being run quite hard by De Jesus and Buchanan tbh, though he'd likely beat them both. Buchanan especially is an intriguing opponent for him, an unusual mix of great cultured left hand punching and footwork mixed in with the classic upright style, exaggerated upper body movement and legendary cyborg- like stamina, late rounds endurance, grit and durability. The latter traits usually came to the fore with Buchanan at world level where he couldn't outjab/move opponents consistently. It won him more fights than his technical ability did imo and he'd need it against Pea to keep things competitive, which he would I reckon, once it became apparent that Pea was more skilled than him and likely to knock his offensive timing out of sync. Great fight.

 

Agreed mate. Something gives me the feeling that maybe other than Mamby, Whitaker would take ill to the rest being runners in an inferior vein to his own style. He was an arrogant, prickly little fecker with a chip on his shoulder and what you doin in my ring vibe and might not want to leave any doubt in the judges minds post-Ramirez I by staying in a negative fight. But yeah, none of them are outboxing him regardless.

 

When you post you sure don't "feck" around. Another absolute GEM. You pinpoint a few parts of Whitaker that many don't even know existed. Whitaker in his own was was an absolute beast.

 

He won going away as well and Buddy was bigger and better than the lads I mentioned.