Rank these 5 boxers at their peak

Mayweather No.1 because of his defense. Tied with Robinson.
Duran No.2 because he was a 10/10 in-fighter.
Leonard-Whitaker higher than Jones.
I don`t rank Jones as high as the others because you could jab him into the ropes easily where he was less effective, he never escaped from the ropes like Whitaker did vs Chavez and he couldn`t counter from the ropes like Mayweather, he also didn`t like to punch first vs a fast counter puncher he was more effective being the counter puncher. Jones didn`t cope well when opponents like Griffin and Calzaghe could match his speed though he did overpower Griffin in the rematch that tactic wouldn`t be wise vs a lot of greater fighters than Griffin and he was 39 when he fought Calzaghe so maybe he would have done better at a younger stage or a lower weight, I rank light heavies like Spinks, Moore and Ezzard Charles above Jones at light heavy and pound for pound though funny enough he would have done better against Spinks and Moore at heavy but Charles would have beaten him and another light heavy who moved up, Tunney who was far better than Jones at heavy in my humble opinion.

 

I like your order already. Maybe swap Jones and Whitaker, maybe.

 

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To me Leonard's #1, he beats the best competition when they were at or very close to their best, Whitaker# 2, the same reasons, Duran, didn't have the competition scalps the previous two had, but what he accomplished from lightweight to middleweight speaks for it self, plus he did defeat my #1 at the peak of his career. RJJ. Would be my # 4, based on the Toney, Hopkins, Hill wins plus a few other he fought when they were at or close to prime. Floyd Jr. Would be last. Almost, or, every fighter he's defeated since Corrales had some MAJOR question marks about them. All the way to this McGregor nonsense with that cheaply gained 50th win.

 

I'd comfortably say that Floyd is the weakest link in this group.

I'd don't give a damn about the mainstream being fooled into thinking he's the GOAT, prime wise, these 4 men had more impressive, better primes than Floyd.

 

Duran
Leonard
Jones
Whitaker
Floyd

Duran is always a consensus top 5 fighter in virtually any pound for pound poll, the others are not. Duran is the consensus best in his division. The others are not.

 

Jones
Leonard
Duran
Floyd
Pernell

 

Who did Whitaker beat at their best? Julio Cesar Vasquez and that's it. Chavez and Nelson both moved up clearly past their best weight to fight Whitaker.

 

Nah, his competition is too weak. Toney was a fluke who can't recover from a loss (he wouldn't have had his resurrection at cw yet) and also lost to fringe contenders. Hopkins just a beltholder who will never amount to much. And the rest firemen and taxi drivers. He is also not fighting hardest competition for the lhw crown in DM and the fight with one possibly his best opponent at lhw in Rockigiani fell through. While he looks amazing, he has the worst competition of the lot by a bit. He'd be my last choice.

PBF would be my second last. He looks amazing. Destroys good competition but also seems a bit picky with his opponents - kind of following Jones footsteps. Also he looked vulnerable against Castillo. If he steps up in weight and quality of competition I would expect him to get cut down to size.

Whitaker is number 3, his competition is slightly better than Mayweathers and he looks more invulnerable. The only one who might be able to beat him is Chavez. Maybe, close call. Not sure if Sweet Pea can deal with that pressure. However, Chavez would be the best fighter any of those three here would have fought by far, so even with a loss to Chavez I would rank Whitaker higher - providing he gives a good account of himself.

Duran and Leonard are close. Both are prime. Either has a win over the other, however Duran's IMO was more impressive. Leonard's win is weird and I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet. Leonard has the best win which was not over the other with Benitez though. On the other hand Duran already dominated lw for a decade and moved up to beat Leonard. So I would tend to rank Duran higher. But then I'm wondering if he can bounce back from his loss to Leonard or not. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt.

So, I'd end with:

1. Duran
2. Leonard
3. Whitaker
4. Mayweather Jr.
5. Jones Jr.

 

Jones nr 1 for me. He was just untouchable in the 90's.

Then Whitaker. Same with him after Chavez really, but without Jones's ability to score KO's.

Duran after Montreal and Leonard after Hearns is more or less interchangeable. Actually, I'll give Leonard the nod since he had beaten three absolute top fighters in Benitez, Duran and Hearns.

Mayweather comfortably last. He is more impressive in his consistency and longevity than in looking just a level above everyone else. Perhaps a bit unfotunate to not have a truly great opponent to test himself against. Or perhaps not.

 

A prime Jones in the 90's was a God in the ring. The closest thing to untouchable you can get. Can't see anyone from 160-68 besting a prime Jones.

Resume aside, if we're talking peaks...

1. Jones
2. Duran
3. Leonard
4. Whitaker
5. Floyd

 

Anyway, to answer the question... I feel that Roy, Leonard, and Duran were a tad bit better than Whitaker, and I feel Pea was better than Floyd.

Really really hard to rank Roy, Leonard, and Duran, they could go in any order.

Hard to go against Roy's prime though. 90s Jones was the best fighter I've ever seen.

I think I'll go with Duran at #2 since his lightweight reign was incredibly dominant, and he then moved up and beat the consensus #2 welter in history in Leonard.

1. Jones
2. Duran
3. Leonard
4. Whitaker
5. Floyd

 

Seems that we have the exact same order. Cheers!