Mayweather Sr. says Floyd beats Duran

The answer to all these fantasy fights for Mayweather is....
Floyd has the natural God Given boxing talents to rank with all those fighters BUT he would never fight them. Heck he wont fight anyone dangerous or who hasnt got the deck stacked against him.
Floyd has the talents of a possible ATG but sadly also has the cojones of a flea

 

I think Floyd beats him at any weight class- this is obviously if both men come into the ring in peak shape and without any type of injuries.

Roberto is one of my favorite fighters ever, but a slick fighter with excellent defense, good counterpunching ability and a high ring IQ is Duran's kryptonite.

People are enamored with the MOntreal fight, which was a helluva win for Roberto. But SRL played right into his hands, decided to trade in the pocket with him instead of utilizing his footwook and lateral movement like he did in their 2nd fight.

Duran also didn't fare well against Benitez when they fought.

I think FLoyd is a better defensive fighter than Benitez or SRL and is also more accurate offensively. I also believe he's a smarter fighter overall than Benitez or SRL; you won't see FLoyd go flat-footed and attempt to fight Duran in the pocket for long periods nor will you see him stay on the ropes and absorb Duran's attack with his elbows and shoulders. Floyd would backpedal most of the fight, time him with his counterpunching, and more than likely just frustrate ROberto for most of the fight.

FLoyd's reach advantage, counterpunching and footwork would be the key deciding factors in that match. Duran was a KO artist especially at 135, but I just can't envision him being able to catch FLoyd and KO him in a 15 rounder.

 

Floyd's avoid Pac his whole career but he's going to get into the ring and beat Duran? Not likely.

 

LMAO @ Sr saying he whooped leonard with one hand. Hey Senior, maybe your memory is foggy of the events? You got an ASSBEATING.

 

I think Floyd would of gave Duran all types of problems because of his style. Duran is more offense then defense. Leonard showed in there second fight, if you don't engage head on, Duran can't adjust. Floyd defense is better then Leonard and his foot work is just as good. Floyd would of out boxed Duran to another no mas.

 

floyd has never fought anyone remotely close to the skill level or intensity of roberto duran. we do know that guys with elements of duran's ability have given floyd trouble such as castillo or cotto. neither of those guys had the kind of punching power duran possessed. ppl will point to duran's loss to dejesus as evidence that floyd would beat duran...but the thing they need to understand is that dejesus could punch and he too was a beast. i don't know that floyd has fought too many guys on dejesus' level either.

prime vs prime....duran all day.

 

Could Floyd defeat Duran?

Well, lesser fighters have done it.

 

Indeed. I think what most people don't understand is that comparing wins and losses isn't always great. Many of the greatest fighters EVER have lost. Many have lost to lesser opponents. Sure you can argue that May could beat Duran on a given day but if they fought 10 times, Duran wins most of them. In one fight many things can happen. You can't always tell who is better with one fight. You get an idea of how good a boxer is but you won't always get the answer you want, in terms of who was better. Duran losing to Esteban really doesn't say much. He KO'd him TWICE, after that and most don't even know the quality of boxer Dejesus was. Not saying he was better than May, just stating that he was better than what people think. On the other hand, we have seen May struggle vs Castillo, who is nowhere near Duran's level. Like you said, how many boxer has May fought at that level? How many fighters has May fought of that level in their PRIME? So how the hell do you assume he beats Duran?

Another problem is that most people focus on Duran's career POST Leonard. From Welter weight and up. Not realizing that Duran was not just in decline, but he was fighting in weight classes where he had CLEAR physical disadvantages and also became unprofessional. Even if Duran would be in optimum shape, he would have his hands full vs Leonard, Benitez, Hearns, Hagler etc etc in every fight. Duran was a small cat. So Duran beating these guys would be extremely impressive. People get huge props for winning fights above their natural weight class (because of the disadvantages), but Duran wasn't just facing good champs. He was facing some ALL-TIME greats. This why beating Leonard and going the distance vs Hagler has always been brought up as outstanding accomplishments. Duran was actually up on TWO scorecards after 12 rounds vs Hagler. He was the only man to ever go 15 rounds vs Hagler. So it's ridiculous to bring up his losses vs Hearns and Benitez as if Mayweather would have been a favorite vs these guys lol. We don't even know if he would even be fighting any of them in those weight classes. Duran lost to Benitez at Jr Middleweight. And got killed by Hearns who was 6'2". Why the **** would anyone even bring these fights to compare? People were expecting Duran to retire after Leonard. Watch post fight interviews and they would always call it as if it was Durans last fight. Not knowing he would still fight. After Leonard, Duran was inconsistent. Depending on his focus and how well he trained, every now and then, he'd have a great performance. But expecting him to dominate at welter and above, was unrealistic and unfair, especially with the talent in opposition. Floyd wouldn't have the physical advantages that the guys I mentioned had. Slightly taller and greater reach but May would also be maxing out at Welter. Duran would eat May alive.

 

Read this, then tell me Duran had no defense.

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Roberto Duran, was a natural born fighter. The son of a Mexican father and a Panamanian mother, the Latin legend learned to fight at a young age. Duran turned pro at 16 and went on to become perhaps the best professional fighter since the heyday of Ray Robinson. After beating Esteban DeJesus in their rubber match for the unified lightweight title he declared to the press, “I was born to be champion of the world.” Indeed he was nearly unbeatable for 13 years reaching a peak record of 72-1 with 56 knockouts, during which time he reigned undefeated as world lightweight champion for 6 years and also won the world welterweight title. Duran was a 4 divisional champion, lightweight (1972-79), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983) and middleweight (1989-90). At his best as lightweight king he successfully defended the title 12 times, 11 by knockout. In his career he stopped 21 opponents in the first round, 31 within the first 3 rounds. He fought until the age of 50 with a final career record of 103-16 (70 KOs).

Early in his career Roberto was a ferocious, brawling slugger who over-whelmed his opposition with his strength, determination, body punching and a strong right hand punch. Duran was a very purposeful, aggressive fighter who possessed a competitive fire that few fighters in history could hope to match. He had murder in his eyes, and as a lightweight had the punching power to match his inner rage. Veteran trainers Ray Arcel, who had worked with the likes of Benny Leonard, Tony Zale, and Ezzard Charles along with Freddie Brown, a former cut-man of Rocky Marciano and student of Charley Goldman, were brought in to help develop Roberto into a complete fighter.

Duran won the lightweight championship at the age of 21 by beating clever Ken Buchanan in 13 rounds at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It was a good fight and although Buchanan’s boxing ability gave Duran some difficulty Roberto was clearly winning at the time of the stoppage. The fight ended when Duran landed a hard body shot that was borderline low that sank Buchanan to his knees.

Duran’s reign of terror over the lightweight division had begun. Duran proved to be a fighting champion defending the title 12 times and engaging in 20 non-title bouts during his tenor as 135-pound champion. His lone loss was in a non-title fight against boxer-puncher and left hook artist Esteban DeJesus. Duran was dropped in the first round and lost a 10 round decision on points. In a rematch Duran evened things up winning by knockout in the 11th round of a title defense. Duran dominated their title unifying rubber match winning with a convincing 12th round knockout.

By the time of the third DeJesus fight Duran had developed into something really special, a throwback to the days of the great fighters of the past. He was at the peak of his powers in becoming one of the greatest fighters of all time in combining toughness and polished boxing skill. The one time street fighter was an artist. The Jan. 30, 1978 Sports Illustrated stated, “Moving fluidly and jabbing, slipping punches and countering rather than swarming over DeJesus, he stalked him, relentlessly wearing him down and coolly destroying him with savage punches to the body. For 11 rounds Duran bested the classic boxer at his own game, robbing him of his speed and his will to fight, and only then did he permit himself the luxury of putting DeJesus away.” Duran proved that he had learned pace and how to apply strategy in the ring. The old masters would have approved.

Angelo Dundee said of Duran (SI Jan 30, ’7 “One gets the impression of Duran is that he’s a tough, rough brawler who just wades in and ducks nothing. But all you have to do is look at his face to see that is nonsense. He’s not marked up. He does a lot of cute things in there.”

Duran has been very under-rated defensively by some analysts. He had good head movement, slipped punches, and got angles on his opponent’s inside. When he slipped those punches he would always be in punching position to land power shots with full balance and leverage. When he was hit he would usually roll with the punch to reduce its effectiveness. He would usually parry an opponent’s jab when he was going to rush inside. Duran was also a master at feinting. He would feint with the lead right and if his opponent’s would lean back, which is a popular tactic amongst modern boxers, they would expose their body and Duran would cleverly switch his attack with a left hook counter to the liver.

Former welterweight champion Carlos Palomino said, “He’s good inside, very good, strong physically. The one thing that surprised me the most was his quickness. And his defensive ability. He moves his head a lot, feints a lot. He’s not an easy man to hit.”

Duran’s trainer Ray Arcel noted, “Duran knew how to fight. He knew what to do. If he looked at the corner the only thing I ever had to do was pretend to jab, once he was using his jab I knew he’d have no trouble. Even more important he knew how to think. When you talk about great fighters, always remember there was a guy named Roberto Duran.

Duran’s biggest victory was his brilliant title winning effort against then unbeaten Sugar Ray Leonard for the world welterweight championship. In a bout that featured ferocious infighting by both men Duran outworked, out-hustled and yes, out-boxed Ray Leonard. The June 30, 1980 Sports Illustrated reported, “It was, from almost the opening salvo, a fight that belonged to Roberto Duran. The Panamanian seized the evening and gave it what shape and momentum it had. He took control, attacking and driving Leonard to the ropes, bulling him back, hitting him with lefts and rights to the body as he maneuvered the champion against the ropes from corner to corner.” Duran was relentless as he pressured, mauled, and pounded his way to a unanimous decision.

The one aberration on Duran’s record is the infamous “No Mas” fight in his rematch against Ray Leonard. It was highly controversial; many believing Duran threw the fight for an 8 million dollar payday. He resigned unhurt in the eighth round. Leonard was fast on his feet and mocking Duran when Roberto mysteriously quit claiming stomach cramps. Ray Arcel said, “That’s nonsense. I just think Duran couldn’t accept Leonard’s clowning, that Leonard got his goat and he couldn’t handle it. If anybody would have told Duran another fighter would make him quit, he’d have got a gun and killed him.

Duran was disgraced after the 2nd Leonard fight and he struggled to regain his form losing a decision to the speedy and clever triple crown champion Wilfred Benitez and then was upset by Kirkland Liang. It looked like his career might be finished. Then Duran then did what the great ones do; he started a successful comeback. Duran knocked out former WBA welterweight champion and left hook artist Pipino Cuevas in 4 rounds. He then got a chance at the WBA Jr. Middleweight championship against undefeated Davey Moore. This fight was a classic example of why the old-timers were better than modern era fighters. Moore was bigger, faster, and more athletically talented than Duran. Moore had a long and successful amateur career, was unbeaten as a pro and came in as a 3-1 favorite over the Panamanian challenger. But it all amounted to nothing over the vastly more experienced Duran. Roberto administered such a one sided beating to the champion as to nearly finish Moore’s career. The fight was mercifully stopped in the eighth round and Duran, redeemed, was a champion again.

Duran last great performance was his bout against WBC Middleweight champion Iran Barkley, a fight that Duran described as “the greatest of my life.” It was a truly outstanding performance by a 37-year- old veteran master against a much bigger, stronger and more powerful champion. Barkley was fresh off his devastating title winning performance against Thomas Hearns; the only man to ever knockout the real Duran back in 1984. Duran used boxing skill, slick defense, and clever inside fighting to offset Barkley’s greater size and power. Gil Clancy commenting at ringside said, “Duran just slipped 6 punches in a row” to which Al Bernstein, replied, “Duran has always been the master of defense that is one of his trademarks.” In the 7th round Barkley nailed Duran with his best double hook to the chin. Duran was hurt but forced a clinch. In the eighth Barkley nailed Duran hard again with a powerful left hook that caused Roberto to spin from the force of the blow, but he fought back. “It was his heart,” Barkley said later, “It just wouldn’t go.” Duran’s punches were doing damage as well; by the 9th round Barkley’s left eye was swelling from Duran’s right hand counters. Duran said, “Barkley was paying for every punch he threw.” The last rounds were all Duran as he boxed beautifully inside. In the 11th Duran landed one of the best combinations of his career, a smashing right counter, followed by a hammering left hook, another right, then he feinted a left hook and hammered a pile driver right that sent Barkley crashing to the canvas. Barkley survived and they fought evenly in the last round. It was a tough, great fight but Duran won a deserved split-decision and the 160-pound title.

The 1996 Ring Almanac rated Duran as the number one all time lightweight in its “All Time Divisional Ratings”. Gerald Suster, author of “Lightning Strikes: The lives and times of boxing’s lightweight heroes,” also rated Duran as the greatest lightweight ever. The AP named Duran among the 10 greatest fighters of the 20th Century in 1999.

 

Floyd has never and will never fight anyone remotely close to being as good as Duran. He fights padded record boxers and avoids those who pose stylistic problems for him, eg Margarito. Duran is not only a better and more accomplished fighter having fought the best of his generation, he is Floyd's stylistic kryptonite. Sr is a big talker but he doesn't deliver, remember Hatton getting ktfo cold by PAC.

Just go back to ruining this era of boxing and don't mention the real greats in the same breath as the ducker known as Floyd.

 

Lesser fighter might very well beat Floyd too, if he fought another 35 like Duran did by the time he was Floyd's age. He was 72-1 when he lost to SRL.

 

Wouldn't expect him to say anything else.

 

Duran had some of the most brutal knockouts you'll ever see.

 

ask roger mayweather the same question...lol

 

Floyd sr is on crack