Mayweather vs Duran at 147?

1. No it isn't bull****, the commentator said it at the beggining of the fight 'Leonard is fighting flat footed' as Leonard the boxer was trying to walk down the fighter. That was clearly a terrible gameplan, much like Forrest employed when fighting Mayorga. Leonard was seriously hurt in the 2nd round because of this and said he was out of it for the next few rounds after getting buzzed in the 2nd.

2. Leonard landed plenty clean, the problem was he was presenting an easy target and igoring defense

3. Mayweather has the faster reactions/head movement meaning he does a better job of slipping and countering. Your right that Duran would be far harder to hit than the likes of Mosley

4. The way Leonard fought against Duran made him an easier target, Leonards defense inside just isnt that great. Duran couldnt land with anything like the regularity or precision when Leonard employed movement in the subsequent 2 fights. Duran was older, maybe not as well trained, but he was the 1 talking about knocking Leonard out in the rematch.

5. Laing was a bit of a prodigy, I think he maybe could have been a world class boxer if it wasnt for all the partying. he had loads of fight offers after beating Duran but he couldnt be reached because he was partying for months in Jamaica. Would he have beat Montreal Duran, possibly not, but the fight being at 154 with all the advantages where he'd also be on his bike, then maybe. So I'm not sure tbh. Duran also probably wasnt that up for the likes of Laing. He certainly would have been up for a great like Benitez with all the bad blood there

The Duran that lost to Laing still beats Davey Moore though. I don't think Montreal Duran beats Benitez

6. I'm a fan, which may make me biased, although I genuinely try to be objective. I was shitting it in the second round last night though

 

Yeah, that's the trouble with bringing a contemporary fighter into a classic discussion the day after a great performance. We need to relax a little and let it marinate a bit. There's no comparison between what Mayweather did to a 38 year old Mosley versus what Duran did to a 24 year old Leonard. Not to mention Leonard is clearly superior to Mosley prime for prime.

 

Same choice as always for me.

 

1. At no point did Leonard "walk down" Duran. You're making **** up.

2. Show me a fight where Leonard fights with consistent lateral movement prior to Duran I. I'm not being sarcastic. I've never seen one, and I've watched all the Leonard I can get my hands on pre-Duran. The only time he did it that I can remember was in the Olympics. Leonard developed lateral-movement/running/clowning as a tactic which enabled him to get the better of Duran the second time, and used it again later in his career when he was fighting bigger men. Prior to that, he was always (in my estimation) a stand-up boxer who would allow the exchanges to unravel rather than run and flurry - and it was that boxer that dominated Benitez a few months before Montreal.

I hope you don't take this whole "Leonard fought the wrong fight" myth seriously. I mean, America's darling golden boy getting beaten, obviously there are going to be bull**** excuses from the press.

I don't see how it's particularly relevant anyway, since Mayweather never had great movement at 147 or even above 130 generally; it's not his best weight. (Hence my comment: Mayweather has a better chance at 135/140.) He definitely didn't have the legs of a prime Ray Leonard.

No, he didn't. Show me some clean punches landed from the outside by Leonard - jabs, rights, left hooks. They don't exist. Why do you think Leonard fought Duran inside? Why do you think he was resorting to flurrying? He had no other choice. Nothing he threw at Duran was landing; it was missing and Duran was taking the fight up close. AND - bear in mind that Mayweather has nothing like the offensive ability of SRL.

****, even when Duran let Leonard take free shots at him he couldn't land. 4:20:5-20.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNVCEBRv7so[/ame]

Show me. Show me an example of Leonard presenting an easy target. You're talking about a peak, primed-out Ray Leonard here. "Easy target" indeed.

I wouldn't even agree to that, even though Duran's a brawler his defensive faculties get overlooked. But I'll let you have that point since it's not really relevant. Duran's not going to turn this into a countering contest.

And Mayweather's is? Mayweather is not a great inside fighter at all. He throws nice upper-cuts occasionally, but apart from that he holds. Leonard couldn't hold Duran for ****. Duran would be all over him on the inside, all over him. Obviously, it depends on the ref - Cortez might break them before Duran can get his arms free and go to work. Certainly, Duran isn't losing on the inside.

Yes. Mayweather doesn't have that movement anyway.

I think that's an understatement.

Who knows, possibly. I don't see him getting hit with all those right leads though.

Oh I don't know about that.

Well, I don't expect him to beat everybody at 147. It would be a different fight though.

I can imagine. Calling Mayweather a Top 10 ATG is far too much though, even for a fan. Roy Jones I can understand. Not Mayweather, especially not on the back of a relatively simple counter-punching display against a shop-worn old man. :tong

 

Imagine what Duran would have done to the current Mosley. Even a past-it Duran - the Duran that fought Moore or Barkley.

 

We're not back on 'Leonard lost rather than Duran won' are we. This is some of the biggest bull**** ever.

Please forgive my arrogance if somebody challenges me on this and all i do is drag up hundreds of old posts of mine.

 

Nobody is better than mid-late '70s Duran at slipping and countering, or getting into defensive positions up close imo.especially not among the great offensive fighters.

There might be some in the same overall league, but Duran is right there with anyone.

 

If he employs the same strategy he did in Montreal, how can Duran not win? Floyd has the skill, but not the muscle to keep this LW Ayala off.

 

Lightweight Ayala = Juan Diaz ;-)

 

floyd just wouldnt have an answer for duran's inhuman pressure, toughness, and power. and this is not a knock on floyd, duran was just a completely different animal. duran stops him late

 

I am a "Duran" jocksniffer, but he really only had a few GREAT fights up at 147........ After his win over SRL in 1980 up in Canada, Duran had nothing else to offer there...... By 1981, Duran was a bloated 156 lb. fighter beating the likes of Nino Gonzalez........ NOW! Duran did look much more fit at 154 against Luigi Minchillo in Sept. '81...... STILL.?.?

MR.BILLthumbsup:bbb:hat

The Duran who was in Canada in June of 1980 beats Mayrunner at 147 in a time machine..... YES!!

 

Duran won at MW mayweather still has to do that.

 

1. No he didn't manage to walk but he was looking to slug with Duran instead of keep optimum range, using movement, picking his punches. Dundee talks about Leonard going for the KO before the fight, the fights largely fought in phone box, Leonard is angry at Duran insulting his wife.

2. Leonard nearly always kept at a better optimum range, he wasnt circling as much as he would in Duran2. If anything he solved the Duran puzzle

3. Leonard had a poor poor gameplan and was fighting angry. He had a great gameplan in the rematch and rubber match. Do you take the 'Duran was prime until Montreal and was never withing 50% of himself' after seriously? Its laughable

4. Mayweathers is harder to hit than Leonard anyway and would keep optimal distance. He has better timing/precision than Leonard to (no I dont think he beats Leonard)

5. Sure Duran slipped plenty, plenty landed, both were landing and Duran was landing better

6. AND I don't see the video proving your point

7. Leonard is standing in front of his man, not keeping distance, looking to wing big shots leaving himself open, fighting angry.

8. Duran has a great great defense, just not as good as Mayweather. And he isnt beating Mayweather to the punch. Why wouldnt he turn it into a countering/boxing contest given he was forced to against Benitez? Youseem to think its the fight Duran wants, it maybe the fight that gets dictated to him.

9. Inside fighter isnt just offense, its defense, Mayweather has an ATG inside defense. Hes got the uppercut, he works the body and hes great at finding an angle or taking a step back to unload fast short sharp fast combinations. Duran certainly isn't having any party inside with Mayweather like he did with Leonard

10. If Mayweather wants/needs to move he can, but in essense thats not his style of choice no, it doesnt mean hes easy for Duran to hit

11. Benitez had some great timing, he might always have out smarted/slicked Duran, it would be closer at 147 though

12. It comes down to styles in my view. Laing is a harder target than Moore, who may in turn beat Laing. I think Laing could have been something special with dedication, but thats a woulda coulda shoulda

13. Its not on the back of the Mosley win. I've always thought Mayweather to be better than the following men i nthe same weight ranges: Armstrong, Arguello, Chavez, Pep but probably slightly below Whitaker, Duran. You don't have to agree but thats my opinion. 1 thing hes managed to do that is impressive is beat a large array of styles.

BTW counter punching performance? He was leading last night, which is another attribute versatility. He leads when its advantage and goes on the defense when it suits him

 

I might be the ONLY dude who feels Duran could've gotten a win or a draw against Robert Sims back in '86 out in Vegas....... The loss was political.......... Duran was there all the way....... That was a good middleweight fight.............

I doubt Fraud Mayrunner could handle Sims' size and power like Duran managed to do so in 1986.........

ALSO! Sims was PEAKED in his boxing career in 1986 as well............ Sims was NOT the best of all-times, but very good at 160 in 1986......... WORD!

MR.BILL