One of the greatest fighters of all time against THE most over-rated fighter in the sport today. In the era of day of the fight weigh-ins, Alvarez wouldn't have even been a top contender. What next, Arturo Gatti vs Alexis Arguello? Joshua Clottey vs Thomas Hearns?
Davey Moore was a good, maybe excellent win for Duran, pity nobody knows him today. He was a big punching champion with handspeed and guts. Duran was an underdog going into their fight. Here in SA we had a guy who was making waves called Charlie Weir. This guy was a KO machine, chopping his way explosively through the ranks. At the time I thought Weir would flatten Moore into roadkill. Boy, was I wrong. Moore probably beats Canelo. Duran pounds the ginger out of him.
Wow, you know my posts better than I do! Can't remember saying some of those things. But I didn't know that there was any dispute about SRL being a runner (in Duran II, Hagler, first half of Hearns I, etc.). I don't use that word as a slur like some folks so maybe that came off wrong. Kostya showed questionable balance at times when he overcommitted to huge punches (like the fight where he was stopped by the immortal Vince Phillips). He had a bigger problem with mobility than balance though (because of his stance). Oscar and Bernard made prime Tito look like a complete novice, a tough guy with a punch (in both hand).
Guys like him build Davey Moore up into some kind of monster so that they can exaggerate Duran's (and justify Benitez') records at 154. That and they just have no respect for current boxers. Davey Moore fought like a crash test dummy. No defense and his bread and butter was reckless, wide power-punching. If Tadshi Mahiri had more of a punch, Moore probably wouldn't have even made it past him and become champ in the first place.
I'm not saying Moore was a monster, but Duran utterly destroyed him. In fact the fight should have been stopped a round earlier than it was. Once Duran realized Moore couldn't hurt him, he methodically beat him to a pulp. Had Canelo been in the ring that night I think the result would have been similar.
I don't think we're being dismissive of them at all, rather it's more along the lines of realizing how truly great Duran was when he was focused and trained properly for a fight. Even with his inconsistencies, past prime mostly, he's still recognized as between the 5-10th best fighter ever and personally I think on his best days that's probably rating him on the low side. At 135 he had it all, speed, power, defensive, ferocity and a great chin, and non stop stamina, and as Dundee said, most of all he could think and adapt during a fight. As he aged and went up in weight, he's power affected the heavier fighters less, and his hand speed dropped and his stamina declined, but he still had a great chin, power enough to destroy Moore, still had a decent defense, and knew every trick in the book. When he fought Moore he had around 80 fights under his belt.
Whatever some other posters think of Davey Moore (and I think he was pretty good based on his demolition of Weir and the skills he showed against Duran) I think we all agree he could punch pretty hard. He tagged Duran a number of times and Duran ate them up like popcorn and sneered back at him. Yeah, no way does Canelo beat Duran, and I stick by my assertion that Moore probably would beat Canelo too. But, that might be debatable. Duran > Canelo is not.
I pick Duran, but it's more of a styles thing than anything. He'd out-technique Canelo for a decision. 154 pound Duran was far from invincible but this is a good match-up. Canelo would beat Moore half to death though. a better question is if Moore would beat David Reid.
You have very high standards. Being outboxed is part of the game and it happens. Styles make fights and mobility/using the ring is a particular skill. I think credit should be GIVEN to fighters that can effectively do this against elite opposition (i.e score damage while moving). You are taking credit AWAY from ATGs because they may have lost or employed such a strategy.
Canelo has the power and counter-punching ability to make this a cracking match. What he lacks is the gas-tank. His lack of stamina in a war would be his undoing. Especially since it is very hard to set the pace versus Duran, as he's always switching up on you.
Here's a blast from the past on Davey Moore, a good read: http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=414061