LW Tournament Decade's Best: DURAN 1978, CHAVEZ 1987, WHITAKER 1990, MAYWEATHER 2002

h2h wow, some of these would have been legendary.

I think the most interesting matchup is Whitaker vs Duran, which I also think are the two best.

I would probably put my money on sweet pea to be able to outbox Duran, but if he could have won a decision... its hard to say. Fists of stone is one of the top 5 fighters h2h of all time.... but whitaker is up there too.

Many judges just don't see the beautiful clean shots that someone like whitaker lands, whereas many will favor an Aggressor ... like Duran

 

4 ATG p4p fighters.

Here is how I would rank these guys on a H2H basis in the yrs mentioned.....

Duran
Chavez
Whitaker
Mayweather

There is not a lot between the 4 & especially JCC & Pea could swap places no problem so Im not looking for a massive debate concerning Pea & Chavez here, I just thought that Rosario fight was a dynamite display by Julio.


I dont want to run thru every match individually but Id fancy Duran to probably beat all 3, I feel that his power would be the difference vs Chavez & Pea where as his pressure & physical strength would be what would win out vs FMJ - tho his power would also trouble Floyd.

Fights between the other 3 could go either way, Pea & JCC is 50/50, FMJ & Pea is a slight edge to Pea or 50/50 & I give Chavez a 60/40 vs FMJ based on style advantage for Chavez.

Duran is king in this one IMO.... tho nothing is certain when 4 boxers of this calibre get together.

:good

 

Duran could beat all of the rest.

Whittaker/Mayweather would be the most difficult to pick.

I lean ever so slightly to Whittaker, even though, as someone else already pointed out in another thread, he's not always judge-friendly.

Great as he was, Chavez finishes last in this h-to-h round robin.

The most interesting fight here is Floyd vs Sweetpea.

They are both two of my alltime golden six.

Whittaker will be unlike anyone Floyd has faced. Very difficult to land on cleanly and given to occasional flurries that will get past that shoulder roll. Not an easy night for Sweet pea.

In five of the six fights, if my pick didn't win , I would see it as a slight upset.

With Floyd and Pea, regardless of who won, I wouldn't call it an upset.

 

Duran beats them all but the Sweet Pea fight could go either way and will more then likely have big discrepancies in the scores...I would say if its over 15 then that favours Roberto.

Whitaker could beat Duran over the 12 but if I had to split them I say he doesnt. He outpoints Mayweather and Chavez.

Chavez beats Mayweather but not the others.

Mayweather would not beat any of them...See the 24 rounds of the Castillo fights for the reasons why Duran and Chavez would beat him and Pea just would..He would not embarrass himself I feel..especially over the 12..A tough match for all of them.

 

Duran - Whitaker = Toss up, can't decide.
Chavez
Mayweather

 

Styles make fights--24 rounds of 2 fights don't mean ****...I'd take Floyd over Chavez at lightweight...

 

We should throw Mosley in this mix too...Mosley was a great LW and he had alotta power there too.

 

Duran/Whitaker is basically a toss-up, but I'd give a slight edge to Whitaker stylistically. And no I won't go into any more detail than that, as it's probably the one topic I've debated more and in more detail than any other in my history at ESB.

Both Duran and Whitaker beat Chavez and Mayweather, and Chavez beats Mayweather. I've discussed most of these ad nauseam as well. Basically I just don't think Floyd holds up well against the ATG pressure fighters, and Chavez is the quintessential pressure fighter in his ability to cut off the ring, where an opponent down with work to the body, and hurt the opponent whenever the opportunity arises, late as it may be. His inside skills would present much more of a problem to Mayweather off the ropes than a guy like Hatton or any of the other pressure fighters Floyd's faced, most of which haven't been very skilled technically. Castillo is the closest thing Floyd's faced to Chavez (being his former sparring partner and all) and we saw how that went.

Same with Duran against Floyd, but with multiple other Duran assets being taken into account. Duran was just flat out better than Floyd, same with Whitaker.

 

Whitaker beats them all.
Chavez gets beaten by Whitaker, Duran, and Mayweather.
Duran beats Mayweather.

 

I agree with everything Sweet Pea said.

 

Duran
Whitakwer
Chavez
Mayweather