Duran vs Mosley at lightweight

The same Mayweather that lost to Castillo?

 

Two can play that game. Duran beat Leonard when they were both prime, beat an enormous Iran Barkley years past his prime, pissed all over Cuevas and unequivocally dominated a division for six years.

Leonard? He beat Benitez. Apart from that, what? Pulling out a last-minute KO against Hearns, and getting a gift draw a few years later? Scoring the most controversial win ever vs. Hagler? The two Duran victories probably wouldn't mean that much to you.

 

Having thought about this a bit more, I see a clear victory for Duran. Mosley loads up on his shots too much despite his speed, and I see a prime Duran slipping his way onto the inside and out-muscling and out-hustling him up close. Mosley doesn't really have the defensive tools to keep Duran off, either - I think he takes a UD.

 

Ban.

 

Ranking is all a popularity contest. You cannot control how others rank ATG fighters. I am in the minority when it comes to Duran, most people do rank him higher, so I agree why would Duran fans pay attention to me saying he is not ATG top 10? I think maybe they know deep down what I am saying could be a little true and it is upsetting.

 

How was Ray Leonard prime? YOu cannot believe he was prime. How can you guys think a guy who won his first title 6 months before this fight was prime? Ray was green, and the fact that he fought Duran's fight was mental and not strategic. Duran couldn't knock him out in 15 rounds with an inexperienced fighter, and all Ray had to do was know he had to stick to his gameplan and he won easily. So the comment you said about both being prime is not fact. When Ray got his first taste of the whole game , he came back and won the next fight easily. After that first fight, Ray would not have lost to Duran again. It was evident how easily he beat Roberto after the first fight. He knew he had to stick to his gameplan which he did in the second and third fights. Remember when Buddy McGirt fought some guy named I think Frankie Warren in 1985 or 1986. Frankie Warren was a whirlwind fighter-just busy all the time and didn't give guys time to breath. McGirt was beaten up the first time, and came back and stopped Warren in the late rounds a year or two later. No one mentions Warren but everyone knows McGirt. Warren won the first fight.

 

So he beat Barkley. Barkley was beaten by Nunn and Kalambay and Sims and Benn etc etc etc. Barkley's only claim to fame was beating Hearns, but it does not mean Duran beat a great there he didn't. He beat a guy who beat a great, but when he fought that great he was knocked out in 2 rounds when both were younger.Cuevas was not a great fighter when Duran fought him-Hearns knocked out Cuevas when Cuevas was champion 3 years before. Leonard beat all the legends. That is significant. Ray is 5-1-1 against the legends and Duran is 1-5 against them. Simply, Leonard beat greater fighters.

 

Anyone can do that. If you said in 1996 before Evander fought Mike Tyson-Evander is going to win, people would say, the same guy who was rocked and almost stopped by Bert Cooper? Different styles make for totally fights and you know it.

 

That's true at either 135 or 147. Mosley looked great for the most part at 147 until Forrest. But his style is different than the Leonard who boxed and moved and danced in New Orleans (and the Hagler rematch as well).

Mosley's a slugger. A fast and flashy slugger who excels in the exchanges. It's not his style or strength to box the way Leonard did when he made Duran quit.

Duran's more polished, better in-fighter, has the better jab, better defensive skills, and should win a tough fight by clear decision.

 

Well to be fair Duran lost to Esteban De Jesus at lightweight and De Jesus and Castillo are more or less the same level of fighters.