Roberto Duran vs. Mickey Walker

Walker by murder, Walker imo is so far out of Duran's leage it not even funny. I think Walker would be too much for Duran.

 

The best lightweight of all time moving up to fight one of the finest middleweights ever. Walker an Duran were similar in height but 'the Toy Bulldog' had a much bigger frame and broader shoulders. Walker didwell against excellent heavyweights like the Basque guy, what's his name? Palino Uzcudon and fought a draw with Jack Sharkey. Max Schmelling kept knocking Walker down in that slaugher and Walker kept geting up like the tough Irishman he was. Schmelling said he almost told the ref he was going to refuseto hit him anymore if the fight was not stopped. He later said Walker was the bravest man he ever fought. Duran was game but he never beat an elite middleweight. I don't think he would kayo Duran but he would win rather handily.

Walker UD 15 Duran

 

Whats often forgoting about Walker, is Walker could box and slug. He was a great inside fighter of couse, but when he choose too, he could be a good boxing also. The first fight with Hudking, he had a wild brawl, the rematch saw Walker on his toes, pumping out that jab and opening up with combintions that NOT even Ali did imo. As a result Hudking won one mere round, and Walker look like Benny Leonard in there lol.

 

Might e too strong and naturally big for Duran , but out of his league ? You are mad , Duran still had the equalising power at lmw and mw as he showed against Barkley who was an aggressive puncher. Duran is one of the finest fighters ever , as is walker one of the best welters ever. But Duran is possibly top 5 p4p ever. I would probably take Walker because of natural size , but Duran could win this . No1 is out of Duran's league

 

Yes Walker is out of Duran's league. Batman and Superman are BOTH heros right? But we all know Superman can beat up Batman even day of the week, unless Batman has a certain green rock. The same applies with Duran. With out God like punch, Duran had lost. I give Duran about 2 percent chance in beating Walker.

 

Although I think we can all agree that Duran was one of if not the greatest lightweight champions ever, and a great fighter with many great accomplishments in some higher divisions, there would have been no way he could have competed with Mickey Walker, who was used to dealing with HEAVYWEIGHTS, for Pete's sake! He would have overwhelmed Duran head to head if they ever met, and stopped him in less than 10 rounds. A much stronger man.

 

At 147? Duran by decision. Duran wins in a similar fashion to his victory over Barkley, only faster paced at a lower weight.

 

People are forgetting Walker was a monster, if people felt Duran was bad, Walker was badder.

 

The Montreal Duran has a chance against any WW who ever lived.

Take a closer look at how he did against aggressive punchers over 135.

-He takes WW Cuevas' best and KOs him.

-Moore gets winded because of two things -the fact that Duran made him miss by an inch all night and the bodypunching.

-Hagler, albeit not as aggressive against Duran, was taken the distance, although Duran was thoroughly outgunned.

-Barkley was a helluva an aggressive puncher. Duran beats him.

There is no other natural LW on the planet in the last 70 years who can claim the same accomplishments there.

Duran was KOd twice in his life. One of them at the age of 47. Both of them by guys who were physically superior and years after his prime.

Walker didn't shine as a WW. He shined later as a MW. He probably peaked in the Flowers fight and by that got a bit of vicarious revenge against the late Greb as Greb had handily beaten Walker (notwithstanding the suckerpunch that gave Walker the edge in a streetfight when he popped Greb as the latter was taking off his coat).

Walker lost to Latzo (reportedly by getting thoroughly outboxed). Most fight critics thought that Flowers beat him. As a WW he barely survived to take the decision against Lew Tender who gave "The Great Bennah" Leonard some hell. All 3 were southpaws, incidentally.

Walker was a hellraiser. He would train with whiskey and would arrive at the weigh-in from a brothel. I expect that he was drained out at 147 by the time he was 25 years old and that wouldn't help him against Duran.

Walker looks good on film. He could box and slug, but he was known for aggression. Even as a HW, Walker fought as he always did. He didn't lay off, he didn't take his time and he disdained the other guy's fists ... thus by the time he met Schmeling, he was ripe; although his accomplishments in the HW division are better in my opinion than Toney's and Jones' put together.

Duran, by contrast, was adaptable and he always did well against aggressive guys who are close to his size -this due to his superb counterpunching, inside fighting, angles, leading, and the rest of an extremely sophisticated repertoire. One of the reasons that I see Duran handling Armstrong is that I see him as physically stronger. Micky Walker was stronger than Duran --he had to be to handle guys who outweighed him by over a 100 pounds like Bearcat Wright.

But strength isn't everything. Duran has answers against the WW version of Walker; I can't see Walker being able to cope and find the right strategy against Duran.

The similarities between them are interesting. Both won their first title at 21. Both were wild. Both went far beyond their natural weights and competed well, though Walker was more consistent. Both had horrible eating/drinking habits. Both had an aggressive offensive style and could swat, although Duran evolved.