Was Duran the greatest in-fighter of all time?

That is rather hypocritical. Saying I take over the thread yet you respond everytime to my stuff. I am just saying what I believe about Duran. I think he was a great in fighter in range, but the guys he lost to more time than not were the elites. You had the Laing fight and Sims was in 1986 when he was coming back, but generally he still won. Beat Minchillo and Cuevas to get the title shots.

 

My issue with Duran fans is the unfair way they give him credit for wins over mediocre guys relative to Leonard,Hearns, Benitez. He is great because he beat Barkley or Moore, but somehow he gets an excuse for Benitez and Hearns as though he needed one. Benitez and Hearns were two of the greatest 154 pound champs of the 1980s and they beat Duran easily. Yet somehow that is excused. You guys can have your thread here, but when I hear someone say Duran is the greatest fighter ever then I usually have to respond. But have your thread. I won't "hijack" it anymore or comment on this thread.

 

Armstrong?

 

He beat Marcel , Buchanan ,DeJesus, and Leonard.

 

Sweet pea likes to turn a blind eye to everyone else Duran beat and just concentrate on the second Leonard fight LOL

 

You make reasonable discussion in any thread where Duran is even remotely mentioned impossible. Broken record would be selling you a long long way short.

 

Duran is somewhere around the very pinnacle of infighting. There's every chance he sits at the top of everyone we have decent film of. If not he is certainly very close. Accusing the forum of idolatry because Duran polls so well in the comments tells is a story in itself. Regardless of your personal disdain for the man he could certainly in-fight and this is coming from someone that gets sick of many of the excuses for his losses.

 

Interesting choice and even more interesting remark, as Joe Gans died in 1910. So you must be around 140 years old. The film of him is so poor it is hard to determine his skill level.

I am 60 years old and Duran was the best and most complete fighter I have seen. Like all fighters, he had difficulty with certain styles.

 

SRR is the best i've seen.

Don't be influenced, we have no evidence Duran would be overly worried by any style at his peak weight of 135. It's only human nature that a guy of his age, size and reach would be bothered by fast agile fighters at higher weights.

 

Frazier didn't know the term "outside fighter".

 

Joe Frazier was a great infighter. He lived in there. Nothing crude at all. His punches precise, his attack under/over...over/under. It was relentless and wore down bigger fighters.

 

Leonard is definitely an all-time great.

 

I see some here have written he was the greatest fighter of all time. I can't give him that. He quit in a boxing ring. Unlike Robinson physically quitting against Maxim because of the overwhelming heat, and Maxim's size or Arguello quitting after 34 rds. Of hellish action against Pryor, Duran QUIT against Leonard in a close contested 2nd fight. Leonard was winning, but he wasn't running away with it. It says a lot about Durans character deep inside. Like Tyson biting off Holyfield's ears, or attempting to break Botha's arm, Or Liston quitting on his stool, after purposely attempting to blind Ali with Liniment on his gloves. Duran like many others was a devastating and deadly fighting machine as long as everything was going his way. But if it wasn't going his way???? As far as infighting, yes I will give him that, no fighter, not Armstrong, not Pryor, not Toney, or prime Bowe was as gifted offensively AND defensively as Duran was. He could apply hellish pressure, yet was defensively sound at the same time.

 

Yeah Duran was overall good with offence and defence unless he was fighting Hearns where both his offence and defence were useless against.