ESPN: "I think Pacquiao is better than Duran"

Silly. Pacquiao is not close to being on the same level as Duran. Not close.

 

Laing was a welterweight though.
I understand what you mean. Without Leonard and Hearns and Benitez around, Duran could have possibly reigned for a long time or dominated for a while at welterwight. On the flipside, without Leonard, Duran might not have been great at all at welterweight.

 

Of course Duran is greater, but people are underestimating Pac by saying stuff like this, he's not as far removed from Duran that it is impossible for him to ever reach that level. If he can secure fights with Mayweather and Martinez and get the wins I would personally rank him higher. Obviously there is no proof that he defeats either man (I'd make Martinez a clear favourite) but it's not an impossible task.

 

Hard to say. I think he would have probably done well with the Palomino and Shields level fighter, but Duran to his credit did fight the best like Benitez,Leonard and Hearns and he did fight Cuevas.. So he was a risk taker like they were. Laing was the fight after Benitez, which Duran lost convincingly.

 

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Pac would be a lock for top ten p4p if he beats Mayweather.

Not sure how many spots Pac would get if he beats Martinez.

I give Barney Ross more credit for beating Canzi, than I do with Jimmy McLarnin, mostly because Tony was a great weight jumper.

I think the same would applie here for Pac vs Martinez and Mayweather.

 

Well, also there is the matter of some unfinished buisiness with Marquez...

 

Bill Gallo also thinks so, and Bill Gallo was a big Duran fan

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gX-0MAYMqc[/ame]




Bill gallo thinks Pac may be better than duran-

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2010/11/16/2010-11-16_vote_for_pac_carries_punch.html

 

**** THIS ESPN SHITHEAD.

None of these assholes know **** about boxing.

Pacquiao's not good enough to eat Duran's ****. **** those *******s on ESPN.

 

Well, at least you didn't go to the extreme in the opposite direction in an over-reactive way. That's good.

 

What is interesting is that Pacquiao loses all hypotheticals from flyweight to welterweight, despite winning all of his big fights against great opposition. On the flipside Duran wins all hypotheticals from Lightweight to Middleweight, despite losing most of his big fights against great opposition.

Another interesting point is that all of Pacquaio's big wins have a legion of people supporting excuses for his opponents as to why they lost. On the flipside Duran has an excuse for every single loss, supported by a vast legion of people as to why he lost, in some cases in an incredibly embarrassing or discraceful fashion

 

Look at who the ATGs who stood in his way were! Can you think of a single 30+ year old lightweight who would have a hope in hell of moving up in weight and pulling off multiple victories against guys like Leonard, Hearns, and Hagler in their primes? These were some of the greatest boxers in the history of the sport, they were bigger than Duran, they were younger than Duran, and they were all hard hitters, and Leonard and Hagler had granite chins. On paper Duran should have had no chance at all, and yet he beat a PRIME Leonard (top 10 ATG fighter) when he was over 30! And gave a competitive fight to Hagler.

To do any better than that he would literally have to be the #1 P4P fighter in the history of the sport. He is great but not that great.

As for Pacquiao, he has not fought ANY fighter of the calibre of Hagler, Hearns, or Leonard. None. Even if he fights and beats Mayweather, he won't have fought anyone of the calibre of Hagler or Leonard.

Duran's opposition out of lightweight is just ridiculous, it's no surprise he couldn't beat more than one of the top 3 guys he had to face. He still pulled of great wins like Barkley, which was much more impressive than the Margarito win. Let's see Pac win a middleweight title at 37. Hell, let's just see him beat Mayweather!

 

If he beats Mayweather then he'd be a strong contender for top 10, I agree. But not necessarily better than Duran. Remember, Pac was beaten several times at the lower weights. Duran only lost once at lightweight, in a non-title bout. Prime Leonard is a better scalp than ageing Mayweather. Duran had that late career MW title win. Duran has a lot more going for him than just his fights with the big names in the 80s.

 

De La Hoya isn't even close to Leonard in P4P rankings.