"The Formidables": Who were the greatest fighting machines in history?

Oliveras when he beat Rose he looked amazing, also Ray Leonard when he beat Hearns.

 

I'll take the Whitaker who beat Nelson over any of them, considering how he was able to deal with such a great opponent the way he did. Though the Haugen fight is my favorite to watch along with the Ramirez fight.

 

Very good post. Along with Whitaker, Williams is the only one I may slightly favor or in his case have even money with Duran at LW.

 

Calzaghe Vs Lacey

 

Buster Douglas Vs Mike Tyson

Buster wouldnt have beat mike on any other night

 

I can agree with that ... deep down, I may slightly favour some sort of hybrid of the Whitaker that dealt with Nelson, Haugen and Ramirez over a lightweight Duran ... however, I just don't know if Whitaker is strong enough or even fast enough to offstay the Duran onslaught ... people forget just how fast Duran was in closing space, getting his punches off and reflexively.

Perhaps, the most intriguing match up would be Duran of Dejesus III v Whitaker of Ramirez II or Nelson?

 

I'd pick the Whitaker of the Nelson fight to beat any Duran at LW. The Whitaker of the Ramirez fight(if he implied that same strategy) would likely lose, because of how he was basically toying with Ramirez and staying in range, which is not a good idea against Duran. Against a very live, dangerous fighter like Nelson, constantly charging forward looking to rough him up, Whitaker fought beautifully off the jab and backfoot, and befuddled Nelson with his movement. I see Duran getting quite frustrated and not being able to work his game as well.

That isn't just hypothetical as to how I think he may respond to those tactics either. Duran had trouble with the slicker fighters, and not just at higher weights, see the Viruet fight at LW for a good example. However, even at higher weights, he was able to perform very well against the fighters who'd stand with him, all the way up to 160. Not the case with the slicksters like Leonard and Benitez.

But I'll stop before me and Stonehands get into a rumble for about the 10th time regarding this.

I'm more interested in how people see a Duran/Williams fight going down.

 

As long as the fight is for a title and Duran can hit Pea, which, IMO, he would ... Duran is not going to become so easily frustrated. The one area that I think many overstate is that Duran would destroy Pea on the inside ... Duran is, IMO, the more skilled and adept fighter on the inside, but Pea is no inside midget. In fact, IMO, he beat Chavez, when he showed Chavez that he was more than a match for him on the inside, but that's neither here nor there.

I share the same sentiment as Stonehands about Duran being a passion fighter ... as long as he is in the mood that he was for the Leonard fight in Montreal, I think Pea is in danger of being overwhelmed down the stretch. Duran was just so fantastic at closing down the gap and given Pea's balance issue when crossing his feet (see Ramirez I, remember the commentary and note that this was a consistent technical fault), I think that it's very likely that Duran can slip the jab and knock Pea down, catching him off balance, going backwards or laterally.

I think it's a series to be decided by a best of three or five :yep ... my instincts tell me that Duran, like Saddler did with Pep, beats Pea the majority of times, but like Pep did with Saddler, when Pea wins his bout, it will be one of the greatest exhibitions of the sweet science ever witnessed.

Duran v Williams ... I think that Ike has the power and boxing ability to come out on top. However, it's just so damn hard to bet against a peak Duran, that I have Duran the slight favourite.