Roberto Duran vs the welters/middles of the 40's and 50's

For me Basilio wins this fight. His strength advantage will negate Durans inside game as he will be able to push Duran back and be the stronger, aswell as looking the stronger, on the inside. Duran would have some success with his, what I call, 'Backfoot-Inside work': where he looks to make it skilled and counterpunches. But I think Basilio will be pushing him back almost constantly with hard combinations punctuated with the left hook. It would be close though maybe a 9-6 type decision.

 

I'll do a 'Duran at his best' scenario

Basilio - W
Gavilan - L
Armstrong - W
Zivic - W
Burley - L
Bratton - havent seen enough
Bell- W but hvent seen enough
Robinson - L
Saxton - W hvent seen enough
Cocoa Kid - W hvent seen enough plus h through fights, he may have the style to pull it off given his great wins

and more

Middleweight is of course going to yield a lesser win ratio for Duran, here we have-

Graziano- Duran
Zale - toss up
Cerdan - W
LaMotta - W/toss up
Robinson - L
Overlin - L havent seen enough, and Overlin has major pedigree
Soose - W hvent seen enough
Hostak - W hvent seen enough
Olson - W
Fulmer - toss up
Giardello - L
Williams - toss up, lean towards W, havent seen enough
Bolden - L hvent seen enough
Bivins- Loss, too big
Charles - L
Marshall - L
Moore - W - Moore was pre prime

 

Why do you think he beats Basilio?

Williams IMO would beat Duran, he was a defensive wizard.

 

Duran has advantages with his defense, general skill, speed, intensity, jab so I cant see him losing a UD and I cant see him being stopped. Theres an assumption Basilo would be stronger, but Duran was bull himself at 147 and a much more skilled bull

 

1. I just think Duran has much more skill and was a physical beast at 147

2. If you could direct me to any footage, I'd be an intrigued viewer

 

It's a good opinion, i think Duran is in with a chance though. Although Basilio is strong, Duran's strength could be underrated here. His strength was maintained throught his career when you look at the larger picture. He was able to bully many larger and good/great fighters around the ring in spurts at least.

I have to go now, sorry, later guys.

 

That Duran did as good as he did against welters 'n middles is a testament to how good he was, because, to me, at little more than 5'7", he was really an overweight '35-pounder, where he was a MONSTER.

 

LaMotta would bruise him up badly... he'd wish he was back in there with a tentative Hagler.

 

Fair call. Jake's underrated skills and huge size advantage would hammer him. Of course he's aggressive too no matter the situation.

 

Intresting, i find it hard to see a duran at his absolute best losing an inside battle of the kind i see happening here. While Basillo will have an edge in the strength department will that be enough to counter the ability of durans on the inside.

If you take the palamino fight for instance, his ability to role with the punches, move under and over and then come back with pin point combinations is a joy to behold. I do see your point about basillo forcing duran back and he will certainly have some joy but i believe the more quality work will come from duran and his defensive proficieny on the inside will be enough to get the job done.

 

Seen your post above

Also I dont think there is any Holman footage, there is some reports up on Google News Archive though.

Basilio though, for me, is the strongest Welterweight ever. Duran was very strong but Basilio was super strong, for proof he backed up Gavilan who was a strong Welterweight. I do think the strength is firmly in Basilio's court on this one.

Although with his skillset Duran could appear to be sstronger by changing his angles and pushing Basilio off balance, but I don't see Basilio giving Duran the time to do it, or falling for it.

Also, he has a style which is near suicide for a lighter fighter.

 

Yes n' no. Duran's immense inside skill and ability to see and roll with punches needs to be rememebered. He sclaed back considerably vs Hagler when he found Hagler was the better inside man given their size differential. The point is Jake (pretty sure Chris thinks the same) won't sit back like Hagler did.

 

Basilio's freakish strength and own considerably effective offense could well stunt the smaller, less powerful Duran's offensive output imo.

I lean towards Carmen gutting out a very close fight.

 

I see it more Basilio not allowing the quality work. Palomino was strong but he let Duran aggress, Basilio wouldnt and couldnt allow that to happen IMO.

I'm meaning for a smaller fighter to fight Lamotta, Lamotta's style makes it very hard as he aplifies his strengh and imposes himself on his opponent due to his style.

Duran could probably deal with his attack enough not to get stopped IMO, but Lamotta would be pressing constantly which would make it very uncomfortable for anyone lighter.

Someone agrees with me

 

To be honest i think Duran's strength is something ultra close to super in it's own right. Sometimes people marvel at the skill but have a good look solely at his strength and i don't even think it's debatable. Basilio is stronger but i don;t see it as a situation wherein he is bullying Duran to the point where his skills will diminish.

You could take the viewpoint that this will involve plenty of inside work and Duran is better. But i must be fair to both parties and Basilio's own skillset is so high that i'm not conclusive in saying that Duran could outfight him. Basilio's combos are so sharp and accuarate. Duran is better though imo. Clearly but not by a lot, please don't misinterpret this as an attempt to detract from Basilio, i have him top ten at the weight.

I think it's terribly close.