Floyd Mayweather vs Roberto Duran at 135 pounds 15 rounds

It sounds like some people forgot that this is a fantasy fight at 135 pounds, not up at welterweight or above. We’re not talking about the Duran who fought Kirkland Laing or Jimmy Batten, we’re talking about the Duran who was in his physical prime and went 12-0 (11 KOs) in Lightweight world title fights.

Mayweather was a fabulous super featherweight but his performances at lightweight weren’t all quite as good and he wasn’t at the weight long. I suppose you could argue with same day weigh ins that the super feather version of Mayweather would be the one fighting Duran, but if you stick strictly to the weight we’re supposed to be discussing, Duran should be favourite.

Does that mean Duran definitely wins? No. But given his lightweight pedigree and the way he fought there, I’d favour him.

 

What I mean by best opponent I mean best matchup. Yes Ken has a bigger name and a better name but DeJesus gave Duran, and not just any Duran, a prime lightweight Duran a run for his money. DeJesus new the ins and outs of Duran's style whereas Ken Buchanan doesn't have that advantage. I do agree that Duran would be a menacing fighter who transcends eras, I definitely can agree on that part, but with that being said, Floyd is also one of those people who transcends eras. If you put Floyd in the 1940's for example where the best fighters fight like, twice a week sometimes and have 200 fights, I have Mayweather going 200-0.

 

Or maybe if Mayweather gets too famous in the 40's and 50's, he might fight less and maybe go 150-0. 0 losses was highly profitable back in the day and still is. Remember SRR was the first modern day boxing celebrity. When he got famous, he had so much star power he could literally, I mean LITERALLY pick any fight he chose. In his documentary, I heard from his managers and coworkers that he was PAIN to negotiate with. He had super, super strict requirements for every fight ever since that Doyle incident, and if a contract doesn't even fulfill one of his requirements down to the exact T, he was not gonna take the fight, and even with all these strict standards the man fought till his late 40's, defying the odds and winning the same belt over and over again. Imagine SRR in this current generation. He'd be like 75-0. 270 fights is equivalent to like 70-80 fights today.

 

I can see him taking some l's if he fought Sandy Saddler,but otherwise yeah he's good for that era.

 

I like that kind of honesty

 

Duran never faced anyone like Floyd, Floyd is too smart for anyone to figure him out. I like the past fighters but as good as they are they are too old, you put Floyd in a time machine and put him against that 50's undeveloped era, he is definitely getting 150 KO's and 200 wins. Just admit that you don't like Floyd and you have never seen him fight. Floyd defense is too good for Duran to attack body. What does body attack do? LMAO. You should attack the head, attacking the head is what gets you KO's not the body. Yeah sure the liver but liver shot is too risky and rare. Just admit that you don't know boxing and you just don't like Floyd. What does Duran do better than Floyd? LMAO> Besides power, what can Duran do better than Floyd? LMAO

 

Body attack could wear down enemies though,you kind of underestimate those.


And if Floyd leaves just a little opening, Duran might just wreck him with that workrate.


Even with the "advanced" modern era,I still thought that Duran,alongside some other boxers would thrive good in the future,cus you never see those level changes,feinting and infighting since Roberto Duran and Jung Koo Chang (Lt fly champion) retired,you can see Floyd getting out muscled at times with Castillo,and if you preferred punch count he could've arguably won,then you have Maidana who pressured him good in the first fight despite all those back head hits.



Looking at how dangerous Duran's feinting game is,I'm sure he can do better than both, although he'll not go undefeated peak vs peak with Floyd in a trilogy,I might see a 1-1-1 scenario,or if a 4 fight series like pac and Marquez happened,2-2.

 

Thing is Floyd never leaves opening, you say if this if that like that ever happened. Floyd has been hit many, many times, but he still wins, his chin has been tested and he has faced some of the most dangerous offensive boxers of all time. Those fights you named Floyd won all of them, so why do you bring them up, oh it's controversial this, it's controversial that, it's controversial is the reason. It's controversial meaning it could go either way, no one man beats all, any other opinion is just blindsided by the hate. And feints don't really do much, if I fall for the feint that's a good thing, if you ever boxed you would know why Floyd better than Duran. If I fall for a feint, I dodge it, and you can't hit me anymore, we overrated feints way too much. Feinting won't do much to arguably the greatest defensive boxer to ever live. In a series of 5 I see Floyd winning 4. Maybe 3 if Duran gets super, super lucky.

 

Mayweather would never agree to fight Duran...

 

Problem with feints are it's literally supposed to make you defend the wrong shot and open up you good.


But anyways,I'll trust the more experienced,I'm never gonna think PBF would ever have an easy time with Duran,but you know better than me.

 

That's fair, but the thing about Floyd is his distance management. If you feint and I move back, it doesn't matter because no matter what punch you throw, it won't hit me because I moved back. Moving back is the best defense.

 

I also agree PBF won't have an easy time. Duran is a bad matchup for anybody, no matter how good they are, but Floyd is definitely winning convincingly.

 

It's good defense,but moving back when your opponent is not over committing doesn't give you that much if advantage over your opponent because your hands are far away from them either.

Instead,when you take a step forward, there's much more things to do despite the risks,you can angle then out into a bad position,smother,initiate an infight,or counter.


But in the end it's just stylistic matters and opinions on defense anyways.

 

And I don't really think about convincingly,best he can eek out is probably an MD with a prime Duran.