how would he have fared against the 40s and 50 fighters?is he a title holder today if he was fighting?
duran should of been disqualified for thumbing davey,davey would of easily handled duran or any fighter from the old days if he were fighting today he would definately make a good run for the championship:think
He would be an unknown developing prospect in the 40s\50s,i expect the era would benefit him unless he was unlucky enough to be horribly mismanaged once again.AS for today, he could handle any junior middle around today the way he was up through to the Drayton bout already, though would benefit greatly from having about 20 odd fights before a title shot, giving him time to work on his mediocre Defensive skills.
Davey had potential. He was thumbed and he had dental surgery days before he fought Duran. They should have postponed the fight. Davey also had only 11 fights in 1983. Not enough to deal with Duran. He stood right in front of Duran. You cannot do that unless you have the power and speed of a Thomas Hearns.
If Davey had not been thumbed, it would've been a great one. Moore could punch and and would've given Roberto a run for his money. I think Duran would've still won, but probably by hard fought decision, a la Barkley. Given 10-15 more bouts he might have been able to pull it out.
People forget that Davey went on to KO Wlifred Benetiz after the Duran defeat. Though Benetiz claimed a broken foot, Davey ran through him like a Kenworth diesel truck running over a Volkswagon. He also destroyed a very dangerous Charlie Weir on his home turf in South Africa. The fight with Duran was lost during the introductions. Davey couldn't believe the support Duran got at Madison Square Garden. I saw the look on his face when the place roared when the announcer said "Roberto Duran" The air went completely out of Davey's Balloon.
