The more overall skilled fighter.... DURAN or WHITAKER ?

I can't be bothered to watch it again, but i seem to remember Duran still slipped under a fair few Hearns rights while hurt, before getting caved in.Kalule-esque.

Hearns was just too quick and forceful with the straight punching for Duran at that stage.Pea could at least still see 90% of the punches coming from a fighter who didn't have the same clean knockout power or speed, even if he didn't have the reflexes to slip them all anymore.

Duran probably should have done better, even so, but i don't think you can really compare the two fights in such a direct way.Besides it was his toughness and will Whitaker proved without doubt, he took a load of shots that would have flattened him by the 2nd half had he a Hilario Zapata type chin, while Duran quickly succumbed to the kind of performance and example of ability Trinidad never had in him.

 

Duran.

 

Pernell Whitaker and Roberto Duran were probably not that far apart in terms of strength and punching power - in fact, I'd go as far as to say they were probably equal. They were two men of similar mass who were operating at the peak level in the sport with which they competed, and aside from structural differences - the slightly more robust Duran possessing more close leverage than the more wiry Whitaker who had length on his punches - it all came down to mentality. Naturally, Whitaker was cute and defensive; a pot shotter who reveled in the stylistic inadequacies of his opponents as opposed to the dreaded Duran, who sought to overwhelm his opponent physically and rob him of machismo.

In other words, Whitaker was an evasive master with added punching excellence. Duran was a bulldozer made refined through hours of work and a sprinkling of born aptitude. His skills were only necessary for dishing out more damage; the primary goal.

Whitaker wasn't more skilled, he was more composed. There is a difference. Whitaker always looked like the educated boxer, except for the few times he clowned around, and he thrived on it. There was pride in humiliating opponents and making them miss. There was almost an intellectual hierarchy in full view whilst watching one of his fights, again in contrast to Duran, who despite being skillful anyway, fought with a touch of reckless abandon, taking pride in the fact that he was a stronger physical force - even though his extra strength might have been negligible (it was in his nature to go forward). He still pulled off moves in the ring that I've never before seen replicated, or at least, not to the same degree of success, such as turning from a punch whilst his body is moving towards it - the optimal position for delivering a fight-changing attack.

 

I feel both are totally different, stylistically, but very complete fighters. Duran is slightly underrated regarding defense and was probably one of the best at it for being so aggressive. He really combined, offense and defense, very well indeed, taking into account his approach and style for most of his fights. This covers what I'm talking about, "such as turning from a punch whilst his body is moving towards it - the optimal position for delivering a fight-changing attack".

Duran not only combined, attacking and defending, so well at the same time but could do it at a very high pace too. When thats happening, reactions to punches coming your way ain't the same and you could say your own punches might lose accuracy. Hatton - a classic example of going full throttle and becoming more vulnerbale to being hit. Too, straight up and down. Not Duran. He was just an expert at ducking those knees, to take a few inches off himself when inside and he used his waist to good effect to go with it. Duran was also brilliant on the outside at pulling back away from punches. Just watch the 2nd round of the first Leonard fight when Duran nails him with the half hook/uppercut....just before he throws the punche he slips Leonard's left jab from pulling his head backwards.

Whitaker gets underrated regarding offense. While his offense wasn't about power or designed for pain, it scored high in volume and accuracy. Varied too, body and head. Some fighters with his fast jab would have been happy to head hunt. Not Pea.