After watching GGG's last fight at 37 years of age I wondered what he'd have done against the almost 38 year old Duran who beat Barkley. Looked to me like that Duran would take a close decision over this version of Gennady the way he was getting nailed, what's your thoughts
I would urge caution here. A fighter is often more than the sum of a recent bad performance, and do we even have a clear picture on Derevyanchenko yet?. Let's see how Golovkin does in his next fight.
Really is as simple as this. Personally I think SD would soundly beat any MW version of Duran. I think GGG wouldn't be as bad a stylistic match-up for Duran, but his jab, size, strength and workrate would stil be too much for Roberto.
I like Duran, he seemed to pull back the clock and beat a very capable, not GGG capable like, confident champion coming off his best win. He also did it with style. GGG was leagues better than Barkley, but he was pushed to the limit on Saturday against someone who wasn't as good as Duran was in 89 against Barkley. He also showed an issue with workrate (which I think was the biggest issue he had with Derevyanchenko), head movement and body shots. Duran had all 3 of those things and a very good chin. He also was very good at turning a fighter which Derevyanchenko was doing on Saturday after combos to stop himself getting hit so much, Duran could do this as well. GGG also has a tendency to give his opponents too much credit for the punching power, Hagler did with Duran, I can see the same happening here, with Duran ripping GGGs body. I think that GGGs jab nowadays is his most reliable weapon. I think he'd make Duran's face puffy and set up some nice shots, but Duran keeps it on him and lands better, albeit less powerful, shots at a higher rate and takes a close decision of sorts.
Duran on a good night and in good condition was a terror but he was not consistently trained and in boxing you need to maintain condition to get into ring worthy condition but in shape he gives anyone a battle even a few weight classes above his natural weight GGG is always in great condition and maintains it- both men in shape it goes to the cards - I favor GGG to win a close UD or SD but could go the other way - tight fight- I think I had Duran-Hagler 1115-113 if I recall correctly
