Floyd Mayweather vs. Roberto Duran at welterweight.

This forum sucks now.

 

We both know statistics do not win fights, Duran had no stamina problems in his first 70+ fights so lets keep things in perspective here.... he also was a far harder puncher with either hand than Floyd, naturally stronger, a much better inside fighter, far superior body puncher & better finisher.

No way Floyd beats Duran at his best, thats blasphemy tbh.

 

Best version of WW Floyd would be the Baldomir one where he was right in the middle of his physical prime and still active. He'd outbox any version of 147 Duran.

 

Mayweathers style is a nightmare for Duran

 

The difference here is that while I know Duran could bring the fight to an all-time great, I can't say the same about Floyd Mayweather. His usual techniques and style work against the athletically gifted but poorly schooled boxers that he has been facing and he has very rarely had to go into second gear. I do believe that Duran would take him right out of his comfort zone and force him into a fight like he has never been in before.

Imagine this, Duran was an awesome 72-1 when he faced Sugar Ray Leonard, and had beaten every single opponent he ever faced, a long list that included numerous very capable fighters. Can you honestly say that Mayweather has met anyone of that calibre?

To those who bring up the Leonard loss while ignoring the win, would you say that Mayweather beats Ray Leonard?

Duran at his best was a polished fighting machine:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj8Mh3TgJFM[/ame]

7:00

 

Yeah, what a shame that not everyone go for the older guy by pure reflex. To say that Duran would win one-sidedly and then critize others...:-( Actually, there are the ones like you that make this forum a true snooze-fest at times.

 

Attributes win fights, and yes Duran did fade down the stretch in the first Leonard fight. I also don't see much evidence of him being stronger either

Duran hits harder and is more aggressive better come forward fighter. This doesn't mean he won't be be beat to the punch time and again
neutralised, made to miss and countered. Also don't rule out Mayweather's body attack making Duran run out of steam himself. Duran will have his share of success but Mayweather will have the better connect percentage as he always does and land more cleaner blows

If Duran losing before his 31st birthday is blasphemy then Leonard, DeJesus, Benitez are all demi-gods :yep

 

Duran had never met anyone of Mayweather's calibre before Leonard either, though.

I think Floyd is better than Benitez. And even though Duran was past prime when he met Benitez he got absolutely schooled.

 

It has been claimed on this forum that Duran would have beaten every active fighter bar Larry Holmes that night. So that kind of puts perspective on some of the reactions here.

 

Duran's LEonard win is better than any of Mayweather's wins no doubt, stylistically I don't think Mayweather beats Leonard but he does have the style imo to neutralise and outbox Duran. Duran may have beat Leonard, but Leonard is not nearly as good defensively as Mayweather and he fought Duran's fight. BEnitez is much more similar to Mayweather than Leonard and that was only 18months after the first Leonard fight

When we look at the rest of their competition Duran actually beat he is not operating at a higher level at all. Castillo, Delahoya, Corrales, Judah, Mosley, Hatton are all elite operators, with different stylistic challenges

 

To say that Mayweather has no chance here is either biased or ignorant.

 

He had met better opponents than Mayweather has fought still.

I just do not see Duran being as befuddled as many of Mayweather's opponents by him giving the elbow/forearm, the usual potshots and the shoulder roll.

Mayweather dictates his fights by making his opponents miss while landing almost every punch he throws but against Duran he would have difficulties landing as consistently and he would be facing an opponent who was extremely creative in how to land punches. The combinations he threw were not something that was taught by the book, he just went by instinct.

I don't care for excuses but Duran to me looked like washed up fighter post-Leonard II. I'm not basing this on the Benitez fight but on his (lack of) efforts against Minchillo, Batten and Gonzalez among others. I would love to have seen Duran and Benitez fight at 140 or 147 years previously. He came up with some good performances afterwards but he was far from the force he had been if you ask me. On paper his style shouldn't be suited for hanging around 20+ years and effectively moving up from lightweight to middleweight but he did.

Castillo, De La Hoya and even Judah early on gave Mayweather something to think about so it's fair to assume that Duran would give him some too. I rate him far higher than those guys, considering that De La Hoya was a part-time boxer by then.

 

Duran after leanard 1 might be beat by floyd. But the Duran of Montrreal or before administers a savage beating to gayweather. He won't be called pretty boy anymore. Leanard didn't choose to stand and fight with Duran, he had no choice. While Floyde is excellent and fast, Duran has more instinct and skills at his disposal. And by the way, if, for some reason floyd would get the decision, make no mistake, Duran would be waiting for him outside and kick his ass in the parking lot.

 

Not as befuddled, but probably befuddled still. He would not have met any other counter puncher with PBF:s combination of skill, speed, size and power. When he did... And I would not in any way call Duran "washed up" when he met Benitez. Declining, yes, but not washed up.

Duran would of course be a new experience to Floyd as well, to put it lightly.

 

Vice versa ????