Mayweather v Duran

What??

We’re talking about Duran vs Floyd.

A version of Duran from the late 70’s-early 80’s.

I spoke of Duran’s era.

From that timeframe.

Not when he was nearly 40, at MW, at the end of the 80’s.

I said that many of Floyd’s opponents, including Floyd himself, would not have been champions in Duran’s era. Again, meaning the 70’s and early 80’s.

The 1988 Donny Lalonde fight didn’t mean anything to anybody.

It has nothing to do with what I was talking about.

 

More trolling garbage.

Go and watch the Castillo and Maidana fights.

Even the Cotto one.

 

OK, I'm gonna say it. There is not a huge gulf between Leonard and Mayweather ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL. SRL likely beats Mayweather because he matches his speed whilst being appreciable, naturally bigger and more powerful. But look what Ray did with Duran? And no, please read on, I am not comparing the fighters nor am I using some warped triangle theory. Ray chose the wrong fight in fight one, learnt his lesson and put on a masterclass in fight two. Floyd's boxing brain and very nature precludes him from making that wrong choice and the perception Floyd is not strong enough to box defensively for 12 rounds is a myth. IN A SIMILAR style to SRL in fight 2, Floyd does not put a foot wrong and slides, glides and peppers Duran with counters and leads all night. When he is caught with traps, and he will be, he uses his strength and athleticism to spin out or 'match' Duran briefly then smother using that underrated strength.

This is a thrilling edge of the seat fight because we are always waiting on Duran turning on the afterburners and sitting Floyd down. But he can't, and he won't. Floyd does not hit hard enough to make him quit, but wins a clear decision in an always competitive mesmerising fight for the purist. The casual fans say Floyd ran away all night and overlook Durans busted up face as is always the way...


....or Duran puts it on him from the bell and overwhelms him in a corner beginning of round 3...

Hey, this is boxing....

Peace and love always, its great to hear these differing opinions discussed and they have made me think and consider. Px

 

Exactly.

 

Leonard admitted Duran made him fight the way he did. Please stop with this wrong fight myth.
Duran won in every department, took away his jab. Took 1 round to figure out one of the best boxers ever who had every physical advantage over him.

Floyd’s at his best pot shotting and using his elbows and hugging. That’s just not enough against Duran.
Hatton almost knocked him down with a jab, Hattons pressure troubled Floyd but Hatton was a face first fighter. Duran would be all over Floyd in every round.

Floyd wouldn’t take the fight because he knows he’d be made to look awful and have no chance of winning.

 

Of course Duran made him fight that way. But he couldn't do it again. Both men knew after Montreal that Duran would never beat Leonard again. I think Mayweather CAN fight a fight like SRL did in fight 2, albeit on his terms with his attributes. Others don't and I'm cool with that. I'm not trying to convince anyone I'm right, thats not my bag, just enjoying a discussion about something that is probably unprovable because it didn't happen and none of us really know what would have happened. But its good to pontificate nonetheless.

Peace and love always, Px

 

You said Leonard fought the wrong fight in fight 1 and learnt his lesson.
You’d think he’d learn his lesson when he was getting driven back to the ropes and getting pummelled round after round.
I’ve said before I don’t think Duran can beat Leonard again, not at the ages they both were anyway.
That has nothing to do with a Mayweather fight though.

 

It's a shame that in this day and age, we have to lie about what qualities fighters had or what we saw and can infer with how fighters managed their careers, the challenges that they took and avoided in real time, just to win some hypothetical fight debate.

Mayweather has the greatest, most consistent defence we've seen on film - he didn't face the likes of a Saddler, Hearns, Leonard, Arguello, Hagler, Duran, JCC etc. so how great his defence is, when not tested against prime GREAT fighters takes a leap of faith and inference.

You can drop Floyd into any era and he would shine but and it's a big but, I don't think he comes out unscathed in Ike Williams' era or Benny Leonard's, I don't think he sweeps a series against Duran and on his best day, he will be in for a long night with Napoles, Leonard, probably Benitez - Hearns, Robbi and Hagler - he wouldn't sign for these fights with same day weigh in, away from Las Vegas.

 

In the red corner you've got a guy whose 14-0 in title fights above LW. At most 2 of those 14 wins were close.

In the blue corner you've got a guy whose 3-5 in title fights above LW. Whose only clear win of the 3 was supposedly rigged.

 

1. Zero context applied.

2. Those stats have nothing to do with a H2H fight between the two.

3. It’s highly unlikely that Floyd could have bettered Duran’s results against those same opponents.

 

Exactly...the whole Leonard fought Durans fight on purpose is a myth. Duran imposed himself on Leonard. Leonard had no choice. It was Durans doing not Ray's choice

 

McLlvanney wrote a wonderful piece on Duran v Leonard 1, it might be in his 'On Boxing' anthology, a brilliant, brilliant read by the way...

 

And to add, Leonard and Angelo both spoke about Ray being the bigger man and imposing himself on Roberto prior to the fight. The narrative only changed after Roberto forced Ray into a firefight.

The way that Ray fought in No Mas wasn't typical Ray - yes, he used his legs but his style was a boxer puncher - he fought in Montreal the way that he wanted to and then was surprised when he was confronted with Duran's brilliance.

Ray's losing effort is one of the most commendable losses we've seen between two elite fighters at their peak/prime.

 

As I alluded to earlier in posts, Hugh McLlvanney said in his wonderful piece on the Brawl in Montreal, both fighters left the ring that night knowing that Duran would never beat Leonard again. A brilliant fight and one where the loser probably learnt much more than the winner..