Roberto Duran vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. at 135 - 12 rounds

LOL. Thats the most moronic things I've heard on this forum. You do realize Floyd started his career at 130 dont you?

 

Thats exactly what I mean with it's not fair to a certain degree to compare them skill wise. Duran could have done the same to Corrales and Gatti but in a different fashion obviously. Mayweather's performance against Corrales was as good as flawless considering the style he implemented. Duran would have knocked out a 135lb version of the same Corrales, lets say inside 4 rounds. But it just depends how you like it done. Other things come play here, like power. Duran's aggressiveness and power at 140lbs and below probably gives him a huge advantage. Looking back in hindsight though, Mayweather could have got Corrales out there earlier. However, with Corrales power being his key weapon Mayweather decided to box and soften him up. With all that said, Duran does away with Corrales earlier, and perhaps Gatti doesn't even last 6 rounds. It's a very very tall order to see how Duran goes about his business in a more skilled fashion than Mayweather even though he gets them both outta there earlier. That comes down to power and Duran's style rather than being more skilled than Mayweather.

I never said it was on Duran's level. I mentioned Mayweather's body punching simply as part of his game with the other attributes mentioned. I was rounding everything together, and not once said he was a better body puncher than Duran.

Duran's shots were as good as they got at his best in terms of effectiveness. Yes, certainly when looking at him alone rather than comparing him to Mayweather. Thats exactly what I mean he was more 'resourceful'. Not wasting shots and generally being more accurate. And what do you mean effectiveness? The end results of Duran's punches on an opponent? That comes down to power. Not really a skill, rather something a fighter has or doesn't have. Which explains the different style set of either fighter. If you mean effectiveness in terms of clean punching to the body and head I can't see past Mayweather. He was a sharp-shooter though, and Duran for the most part felt his way in from the outside then everything was 'bad intentions'.

I'm just mentioning the Hagler fight in terms of Duran's skills at long range and his accuracy. He was limited.

Yes, accurate at times. His punch variety was excellent while closing the distance and once inside, but at long range for lengthy periods his punch variety was, again, limited. That fact of the matter is that Duran's punches were only brilliant while being aggressive at midrange and up close. I'm not saying Duran was poor at long range, but his brilliance was scarce out at arms length, especially when considering things were kept at long range. When moving towards a target, brilliant. When inside up close, his office, brilliant. Defensively he was better at long range rather than offensively. If Duran was in the gym and told by Arcel "Ok Roberto, don't be aggressive, lets just keep our distance and box, work your long range combinations" I reckon your opinion on his variety of shots wouldn't be as strong.

Corrales couldn't cut the ring off to save his life. Correct. And to be fair to myself I did mention that Mayweather was rather untested regarding his movement in my previous post. But in terms of Mayweather's boxing display, as good as it gets with his untested movement. Anyone else up against Corrales lack of 'cuttting off the ring' wouldn't have done it any better, thus my previous sentence "untested movement". Mind this aint a H2H arguement. Mayweather would be treading on thin ice with Duran along the ropes nonetheless. I did afterall highlight "Duran was more skilled than Mayweather" on your post even though the thread headlines them meeting at 135lbs over 12 rounds.

What you talking about, Whitaker and Duran?

Yeah, seems that way. :good

 

thats perhaps the best win of the past 30 years.

 

Perhaps of all-time. Arguably (very likely) the greatest performance in a boxing ring caught on film.

 

So how is it unfair? By refusing to bring it up you concede that Mayweather could not in any way, shape, or form have competed as effectively against a Leonard level fighter moving up in weight, am I correct? Duran could pull off what Mayweather did, in more impressive fashion. Mayweather simply couldn't have pulled off what Duran did, in any fashion. Thus, Duran was the better practitioner of his style, and the more effective overall fighter.

Yes you did actually:

"I reckon Mayweather's ability to draw leads, then counter, lateral movement, right hand and left hook leads, body punching, and ability at long range is just as effective as Duran at his key strengths."

What other way is there to interpret that?

Duran was a more effective offensive fighter, there's really nothing being argued here, so I'll end it at that.

As is Mayweather, who wouldn't have performed half as well as Duran did against Hagler at MW.

I don't disagree with anything here. Mayweather was technically great, but regardless, he was not as effective as Duran, which is what it all comes down to. That's basically my entire point and I feel like I'm sounding like a broken record here.

Yup.