Duran Vs Pryor

Well, I guess if Roberto was to fight Aaron Pryor at 140 lbs.
It would have to be the mid-late 1978 or early 1979 version of Roberto.

I'll take a look at who he fought.......

 

Pryor just might pull a "SRL vs Duran 2".....fight some at the first....then run around doing a bunch of crazy sh!t and Duran says "no mas".

Pryor was "dumb" like a fox in the ring.

 

Everything Pryor could do, Duran could do. Only better. Duran UD15

 

I love Pryor...but not against Duran. Roberto's pressure, strength, and ability to slip and counter win him a decision, in a thriller.

 

Duran's greatest victories were against plodders.

The movers and the elusive ones were the ones that gave him trouble....plus Hearns who he was totally outsized.

 

Pryor tended to be a chin up wide open headhunter at times. Against a defensively skilled body punching specialist like Duran, this really doesn't bode well, even if Aaron was utterly impervious to anything Roberto hit him with for 15 rounds. Put Panama Lewis and his black bottle in the Hawk's corner, and I'd still bet on El Cholo to take nothing less than a UD win. The name of the game is to hit and not be hit, clearly in Duran's favor here, even if Pryor averages 150 punches per round though the entire championship distance. (He did 100 punches per round with a 30 year old Arguello in Miami, yet trailed by two points on Ken Morita's card after 13, and led by just three points on the other two cards. Here, I'm considering that version of Aaron against the 26 year old Manos de Piedra of DeJesus III.)

 

On figuring out the best possible time, for Roberto Duran as a Light Welterweight.

6/26/72.... He won the WBA Lightweight Title from Ken Buchanan
1/21/78.....Last defense, versus Esteban DeJesus

A 5 1/2 year run.
During that run, he was 11-0-0 (10 KO's) in Lightweight Title Bouts (135 lbs.)

In Non-Title Bouts, (above 135 lbs.)
He was 22-1-0 (16 KO's)
11/17/72...The loss, L DEC 10, to Estaban DeJesus, (at 138 lbs.)

The 135+ lb. fighters who went the distance during that time.
- JW,,,, Javier Ayala (16-8-1) (13 KO's),,{A Mexican, California-based upset artist, a dangerous fighter}
- JW,,,,, Doc McLendon (10-12-2) (4 KO's),,{An iron-chinned L-LW, that nobody knocked-out}
# 17 JW,, Hector Matta (23-7-2) (4 KO's),,{A decent boxer, who had '2' decision wins over Saoul Mamby}
# 12 L,,,, Edwin Viruet (21-1-2) (6 KO's)
# 18 JW,, Saoul Mamby (18-8-5) (8 KO's),,{Mr. Durable, and future JW Champion}
- JW,,,,,,, Javier Muniz (19-6-2) (10 KO's),,{Actually a pretty good fighter, and former U.S. Amateur star}

The only World Class 140 lb. fighter that Roberto knocked-out (W KO 7) was #8 JW, Emiliano Villa (25-3-1) (13 KO's), on 7/31/76 who had just gone 15 Rounds with Wilfred Benetiz on 5/31/76.

The other 15 Knock-outs in the 21 wins, were against a complete list of non-entities.
Not one real big-puncher in the group of 135+ lb. fighters.
The best of the lot;
KO 2,,,Gerrado Ferrat (26-9-1) (19 KO's),,{A decent puncher}
KO 3,,,Armando Mendoza (17-3-0) (9 KO's)
KO 7,,,Flash Gallego (20-15-1) (9 KO's)

Roberto Duran vs. Aaron Pryor looks more and more like a 15-Round fight.

 

The Duran of Montreal has a very slight edge ... any other version might lose ... Arron was the bigger puncher, had better stamina and matched him with speed .. the very best Duran had a extra tricky gear than could edge him but style wise it is a nasty fight ...

 

At 140 lbs.

I would lean towards Aaron Pryor, by obviously a close decision.

At 144 lbs. and up,

Roberto Duran by pretty much, another close decision.

 

What about at 143.5?

 

Duran had better punch placement, footspeed and threw straighter, sharper punches. He also had better headmovement, reflexes, BALANCE and better ability to turn defence into offence ... that is, much more fluid demonstration of the maxim, "hit and not get hit".

I'd argue about stamina as well, in light of certain black bottles. Duran's relaxation, in the heat of battle, ensures that he'd maintain his output and with the missing that he'd make Pryor do, I think Pryor is the one that would tire faster in a straight shootout.

 

No,,,,,too light for Roberto,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe 143.75 lbs.

 

Rico,

I would think the first real display of Roberto Duran at Light Welterweight
was in the spring of 1978, versus Adolfo Viruet.
Both fighters at 142 lbs. or so.

Though Roberto won, it was a close fight, and in no way did he blow through
Adolfo.

Roberto did have a chance to fight for the vacant WBA Light Welterweight Title versus
Antonio Cervantes in June 1977, and/or go after Cervantes in the spring/summer of 1978.

 

Pryor might edge Duran, but with his considerable experience, Duran would probably eke out a close decision in the fight of his life.