Seriously now.. People overrating Roberto duran

Terry Norris?? no. It would be guys like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Larry Holmes, Roy Jones, Julio Cesar Chavez, Mike Tyson.. Floyd Mayweather, Oscar Delahoya. etc.

 

i have a more relevant question; why do you have Duran the greatest living fighter?

He's good but tends to get overrated. seriously, I've seen better

 

some of them. not all of them. dubbing Duran as the greatest fighter alive is a tall order

but JT tends to over dramatize quite a bit.

 

I mean I liked Terry Norris, and he had that great year or two in 1991 and 1992. Leonard,Curry and Taylor. If those guys were prime when he fought them that would have been great. None of those guys won another title after they fought Terry. So it seems like their careers were pretty much done.

 

Duran couldn't hang with those guys.

 

You're not exactly a respected authority or someone taken seriously by others.

 

No good having decent skillz when coming up against mad skillz.

 

actually Juan Roldan vs. Roberto Duran. What a fight at middleweight. Roldan was a tough guy and strong so who knows how that would have gone. It would be action packed. Duran liked guys to fight on the inside but Roldan was a little more wild than maybe Duran would have wanted. I would pick Duran in a brutal fight with Roldan.. But that is a fight I would have loved to have seen.

 

How about Duran vs the lighter version of Hearns, before he moved up to welterweight. As you probably know already, Pryor beat Hearns at 132# back in 1976, when Tommy was just skin and bones, and didn’t possess that devastating right. Pryor had no trouble getting past Hearns’ defense, befuddling him with that awkward style. Could Duran do the same?
Somewhere between 132 and 147 Hearns gradually developed that KO power, and became increasingly dangerous.
How would Duran do against the growing Hearns at the following weights? Here is what I think
135 Duran wins easily, maybe KO. Hearns at this weight can’t hurt Duran.
140 Duran wins close decision. Hearns is stronger, and is beginning to show some punching power that Duran has to respect.
147 Hearns wins decision, but potential KO either way if one of them gets reckless.
154 Hearns wins easily

 

are we talking about Hearns as a professional or amateur? I think at 147 Hearns would knock out Duran in about 6 rounds.. Not the 2 he did in 1984 since Tommy was peaking at that point and had 8 or so title fights.

 

Good question. He was an amateur in 1976, and he became a pro in 1977 at welter, so he moved up in weight (15 lbs) rather quickly. Hearns said he never had trouble making 147, so 140 is not out of the question for a young Hearns making the transition from amateur to pro.
As an amateur at 132, I don’t think he had enough muscle to put away someone like Duran or Pryor.
I don’t know if he ever fought at 140 as an amateur, but it would be interesting to see his transition, how he gradually got stronger and developed that devastating right.

 

Possibly, but if Duran can survive Hearns’s initial onslaught, he’s got a chance.

 

What in the actual? Let me get this straight - you are matching an amateur Hearns with a fully fledged Duran from 135-147?

 

I’m not matching the amateur Hearns with the 147 Duran. That wouldn’t be fair.

Duran became a pro at 16, so let’s match a 17 yo pro Duran who was probably about 130 or less with a 17 yo amateur Hearns of about the same weight or slightly more. Who wins?

 

You need something with Hearns style to stop Duran. The younger Hearns didn't have that. I will give Duran this, he was more naturally talented and brual than Hearns, and that gives him the edge if he fought a 17 year old Hearns. But Hearns was skilled in the amateurs by Emanual who perfected this style of jab and setup. Hearns had the punch and as a professional, his set ups and testing of chins would have always been a problem for Duran always, but Hearns needed to be a professional at that higher level and use his jab and have that great right hand at 147 and up to beat Duran. The smaller Hearns? I don't know. That is why I always think the professional Hearns beats Duran. It is a very hard style for Duran to beat with that right hand. Hearns would not have missed as professional.