Roberto Duran vs Julio Cesar Chavez: Who wins on the inside?

Both were known for being one of the best infighters in boxing. @ LW and in a phone booth war where both fighters decide to not take a step back and just stay in close, who do you think has the edge?

 

I have always favored Chávez in this scenario. It would be about as good of a hypothetical as one can imagine. I do think Chávez has a tendency to be a slow starter and that could be his doom in this fight, if he does not get cooking pretty quickly.

 

Chavez shouldn't even be in the ring with an inshape duran. not in his class. Duran would kill him

 

Chavez would live through the weigh in

 

Duran was extremely skilled and nuanced on the inside. He rarely got hit clean even inside. He also has the physical strength advantage.

 

If Don King is the promoter, Duran would be DQ'ed for an infraction real or imagined and the scorecards would read split in Julio's favor. All hail the King! Chavez Chavez rah rah rah.

 

Sure buddy. Duran is the most overrated fighter on this forum. At 130/135 /140 Chavez has a chance against anyone in history.
Duran was stronger on the inside. Chavez threw the better left hook to the body. Duran was more aggressive with his punching but Chavez seemed to pick his spots better. Chavez was tougher on the inside. Pretty damn even to me.

 

Duran was a much better boxer. Much smarter too. Duran from the third DeJesus fight would outbox and outfight Chavez to UD 15.

 

I actually prefer Chavez's inside game. I always thought Duran was much better working on the outside behind that brilliant jab.

 

Have you ever seen a threshing machine. Duran would eat him up. Climb his chest and tear his heart out. This would be ROBERTO DURAN against a fellow great aggressive latin and Duran would arrive accordingly. Chavez is overpowered. Chavez hits the deck 5 times. Chavez is stopped inside of 10 by a nie ne-feral Duran by the end of the fight. After the fight a savage Duran would walk up to Canelo and 1 punch him spark out. DURAN IS DURAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!##########!!!!!!$$$$!$!!!!!!

 

****in' A man! If I had a beer I'd give it to you.great posts

 

This is a reasonable post. Duran is the bigger man. Chavez is tougher than ****. If anyone can come back at Duran in the lower weights its him.

 

DURAN

- Significant hand speed advantage.
- Best defense of any swarmer recorded on film.
- Has arguably the best corner tandem between Arcel and Brown in history.
- He is the better counterpuncher.
- Significantly better at out fighting
- Best inside fighting skills seen on film. (Yes, better than Armstrong, although Armstrong's work rate may trump this skill advantage in a hypothetical match up.)
- Slightly better power. (And more of a "snap" puncher than the heavy handed Chavez.)
- Better at dirty fighting if called for.

CHAVEZ

- Chin proven to be harder than Thor's hammer.
- Slightly better body puncher.
- Training for fights, and shape/fitness between fights more consistent. (Prime for prime.)
- Work rate more consistent. (Against Duran who fights in spurts, this will carry the rounds Duran slows down in. This can be demoralizing in the 2nd half of a fight when Julio's work rate doesn't drop off.)
- Arguably mentally tougher. (If Duran lost 8 of the first 9 rounds against Taylor could he have closed the show?)

VERDICT

- The Duran from 1978-1980 was one of the best fighters ever seen on film, and his inside skills in this period may well be the pinnacle of inside fighting skills in the history of boxing.

For Chavez, who without a doubt is one of the very best inside fighters of all time, this is a matchup against one of only two or three men in history who would be better on the inside. This is akin to asking 1981 Sugar Ray Leonard to fight 1948 Sugar Ray Robinson. As great as Leonard was, would you favor him over Robinson?

For me the match would look like a much more competitive version of Duran vs Palomino, but with Duran far less successful in pushing back Chavez as he did Palomino. (Palomino was a decent inside fighter himself.) Most of this fight would be fought in the center of the ring in a savage inside war that might well diminish each fighter afterward. I see Duran by 15 rd UD 144-141. Lee Wylie has an excellent video that breaks down Duran's inside mastery in this fight I've posted below that is instructive in gauging this matchup. The Modern Martial Artist also has two excellent videos on Duran's inside fighting I've added below.(I had thought there was an analysis video of Chavez vs Rosario, but I couldn't find it. If anyone finds it, please link it.)

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On the inside this is a war but with both it is about subtle skills....I hate to pick because Duran was otherworldly slick...this could go either way I can't see either man losing on an inside fight@135 but if I had to pick a phone booth fight I go with Chavez....If I have to pick a match with no stipulations I like the slightly bigger more athletic Duran..no KO's here

The differences between them were slight at 135/140 but when Duran was on against the top 147 lb fighters this is where he showed his separation compared against bigger men he was phenomenal and dominant...his quickness was the difference....where for Chavez it was a division where he was good not great in 135/140 is where he was his best a 5lb separation between them...Duran carried his lethal skills on up beyond to 168

 

Dream match up.

As much as I like and rate Chavez this would be his most difficult fight, by a mile. Chavez is an ATG no doubt but Durán (who also happens to be my favourite boxer of all time) was just sublime at LW and is easily a lock for top 10 ATGs imo. This not a mismatch by any means but Durán has the edge in almost every department apart from maybe chin (although I struggle to see how Chavez stays standing after eating Hearns right hand as cleanly as Durán did). Duran’s infighting is the best I have seen. He could also adapt and box and his defence was amazing. Look at what a focused Durán did to SRL and when past prime he conjured against Davey Moore. I see this as a narrow but clear UD for Durán.