PBF isnt the greatest, but how many skillsets in history are you taking over his

I disagree completely. I tenacity, relentlessness, power and never stop coming forward, along with a great, great defense aren't skillsets I don't know what else to call them. Let's remember Duran is rated top 5 All time, Floyd isn't. There's a reason for that.
Floyd's main attribute is defense, Duran's is offense. Just watch some of the body punches he threw in his fights, the guy was an animal.

But back to the question, the three fighters skill sets I'd pick over Floyd are SRL and Duran and SRR, might even pick RJJ's especially in his prime.

 

If I could have Floyd's skill set only with punching power, and the ability throw 7+ punch combinations before my target could react, and could throw from awkward angles, and had an innate desire to immediately respond when hit with a good shot, and were a south paw, then that might be the ideal avatar. :thumbsup

 

Not saying Duran doesn't have great skill sets, and I couldn't say you'd be wrong if you want to make the argument his are better overall than Floyd's.

Duran was an absolute beast. I agree. Nothing really compares. I understand, and have seen the man's career.

The point is, Floyd is "right there in the discussion." There really is no wrong answer in my view. That fight would have been highly competitive, regardless of who you think comes out on top. The interesting thing about that particular match up, is you can literally choose from many weight classes for your hypothetical match up.

If you want to watch an old fight: Watch Duran vs Esteban De Jesus I - Great fight. Esteban, like Floyd, was an excellent technician.

 

I agree, Mayweather has a brilliant boxing mind. His boxing IQ is the best I have ever witnessed. I think that he stands shoulder to shoulder with the greatest fighters of any era.

 

dont argue with him. for him duran was like rios and margarito.

 

The reason I disagree with this is because Duran isn't going to stop coming forward. You'd have to knock him out before he'd stop. Secondly, If Floyd can't hurt him. which not many could, even Hagler, guess what, Duran's coming forward, especially at lightweight and he's fighting a full 3 minutes for 12 or 15 rounds. Watch some of his fights, De Jesus III is a masterful clinic, and the version of Duran that beat SRL was better than any version I've ever seen of Floyd. The just has more attributes, he's defense isn't as good, but it is elite, he won't stop coming, he's named hands of stone for a reason, and he can take a middleweight punch. And he throws combo's and forces you to fight a street fight. That version of Pac was a mere shadow of what a prime Duran would do, and if that version of Pac stepped in the ring with Duran the fight wouldn't last 3 rounds.

 

The best post of the thread so far.

 

Sure watch Duran vs Esteban De Jesus I, then watch II and III and then you'll get a complete picture of who the guy was. During the second fight, the whole commentary was basically Dr Ferdie Pacheco praising Duran throughout the whole fight. And II and III were pretty brutal fights. There was more action in the first 3-4 rounds than in Floyd's career.

 

Duran is one of my favorite fighters ever. He had one of the most unusual careers in boxing history as far as having almost a bimodal peak during 2 different eras. Truly incredible fighter and very well rounded. I agree his defense is pretty dam elite, had very good head movement, and knew how to close in on his target effectively without taking too much punishment when coming inside.

I also saw him get really frustrated in the second Leonard fight, a match where it was actually pretty close I think on the cards (although Leonard started to run away with it the last couple rounds,) and he wasn't really taking any punishment in that fight aside from getting somewhat embarassed by leonard's tactics.

i also saw him lose to Benitez on a pretty clear cut decision at 154 lbs.

My point is, FLoyd does possess the style to beat Roberto Duran. I'm not saying it would've definitely happened, but I could easily see him employ the Leonard technique, be on his bicycle all fight, and just throw a quick flurry of shots and run out of the pocket. On the flipside, i can also see Duran be a demon and cut off the ring and really put a hurting on FLoyd.

But I wouldn't put it past FLoyd to beat Roberto. He has the perfect style to really frustrate him. He's a master boxer, elite counterpuncher and a very, very frustrating style defensively.

I also think Pernell WHitaker had a great style to frustrate Duran as well.

 

Your problem is if someone things he's great but not the best ever you can't seem to handle that answer. If you think Floyd would beat Duran 10 out of 10 times you my friend no **** about boxing. Everyone who's seen Duran rates him between 1-3 all time at lightweight, and p4p he's between 5-8 and guess what, the people doing these ratings, have also watched Floyd's career too. I can live with the fact that out of 3-4 fights Floyd might win one, but you can't flip that around. And you're the ****sucker telling me that I said it would be easy to beat Floyd.

 

I also agree with most of this, and will always pick Roberto over Mayweather in a h2h. But ONLY for the reasons you state which are Mayweather couldn't dishearten Duran, and he would be forced to fight every second of every round.

However for overall skill set Mayweather is head and shoulders above the Panamanian.

That said, just as Mayweather doesn't often ALLOW the other guys to fight their fight, guys often found themselves in the same predicament with the relentless Duran, including the great Leonard in their first fight.

 

Montreal Duran beats any version. Of Floyd

It needs to be said

Leonard is on another level compared to Floyd and he lost that day

 

It's not out of the question. But I wouldn't count the 2nd SRL as a barometer in which to use as an example, considering Duran had to loose 40lbs within a couple of months. But there's no excuse for his loss to Benitez, other than it was at 154 and Duran was in his 30's. But as a lightweight, he also beat some pretty good movers most notably Buchanan.

 

I think all of what Duran or any boxer does well is part of their skill set. For example an old Ali's skillset unfortunately was taking punishment. A young Ali's skillset was speed and mobility. It's a combination of a variety of attributes that make up a skill set. If all a skillset is is only defense than that leaves the Whitakes, Pep's and Mayweather's as the best fighters ever, and I don't buy that argument.

 

outside of my disagreement as to what constitutes skillset, this is a far and balanced post.