Duran had his chance to cement his claim to the #1 ATG by defending his WW crown, but he lost to SRL in No Mas. (Totally Duran's fault). He loses by decision to Benitez. He loses by decision to Hagler. Then he gets bombed out by Hearns. I don't think he ever defended any championship he won above Lightweight.
Some decent stuff is posted on the boxing reddit, but it's also a total echochamber (the nature of reddit), with a lot of ignorant and stupid opinions being very popular. There's people getting upvoted for claiming Cunningham wasn't a cruiserweight. Though depending on criteria, I don't think Duran is that bad an opinion, seeing it as clear and disagreeing being stupid is moronic.
Not sure where i rate him in terms of GOAT list. But I rate him above Ray. Even though they are only 5 years apart in age, Duran had 12 years or so of ring experience/wear & tear, depending on how one looks at it. Gave up 4 inches in height, 7 inch reach & had 72 fights going in? 71-1. Ray's anointing by Ali placed him in the limelight, not to add on that Olympics boxing was huge on ABC American television, so I think Ray got points for being great before he could prove it. He had to pull a fight out in order to win the title. No boxing skills made Benitez look bad, simply put Ray had to scrap like a dog to win. & One...who cares for his 1st defense aka Davey Green....Ray is battered & bruised by Duran. 40 fight career isnt that great IMO. If it isnt filled with great wins plural over primed dudes. 11 fights out of the next 10 years. Just imagine had Ray fought in the era of internet and boxing forums..LMAO. He'd be ridiculed. Hearns IMO whooped him both fights, but as usual his chin just couldn't hold up. Outside of Ray's win over Hagler, he did what in 40 fights to rank him over a dude who fought consistently great and did it constantly? I'm not a Ray hater. I grew up adoring his Olympics fights, but to be objective, I'd have to rewrite my requirements to make a 40 fight career with a come from behind TKO over Hearns 1 speculative B.S draw over Hearns & UD in 1989 (20 years pro) of a fat chaloopa in Duran. I was just as impressed in Duran's 83' loss to Hagler than Ray's win over Hagler. Ray was sweet in the fight, even though he ran a LOT, while Duran fought a MW with his own game and went the distance. Wherever I rank Duran..Ray is about 10-30 spots below.
oh & IMO, Ray Robinson whoops Duran. I think if Homicidal Hank & Duran were in the same division @ prime, that would have been the beginning of a trilogy, I'd give it 2-1 for Homicidal.
Duran may have been better than Leonard, but Ray beat Benitez while Duran lost to him at light middle, that proved Ray was a great fighter in his own right and I suppose that Duran wasn`t an elite light middle.
That`s because he was a natural lightweight with a very short reach, would Pernell Whitaker have beaten Leonard, Hagler or Hearns.
Sometimes you need to stay in the arena where your assets are maximized....or you get embarrassed. Kinda like a Spitfire fighting a Mig 15....and wondering why you are being shot down.
Mark Ant you should post up your top 40 or top 100. I really want to see it. I enjoy debating with you
Sugar Ray Robinson was, still is, and is likely to remain the Greatest of All Time....P4P, oz for oz, however way to want to calibrate it.
He can't be the greatest ever for a variety of reasons including the infamous quit. He should be in the top 10 tho and possibly could push top 5. Strictly talking ability one could argue he was is the best fighter we have good film of. Personally i would put SRR above him for starters but he's in the mix that's for sure.
