welter Roberto Duran vs welter Manny Paquiao

Your creativity is certainly to marvel at, but your honesty is not.

...Planet Earth? ...Really, though?

 

good stuff

 

It's a funny post but it's a shambles. I hate how it's so hard to have a decent debate between a 'classic poster' and a 'general poster'. But this is one unbiased mutha****a who is replying to you here Pachilles, you only need to read my posts in this thread to see that. So if you'd like to discuss this hypothetical match properly with me i'd be more than happy to. No bull**** though.

 

Manny Pacquiao has never ducked away from a firefight in his entire professional career, and Duran would certainly have had the tools to pull him in one at 147lbs. When a fighter closes the distance, Manny always seems to get pulled on the ropes. In spots against Barrera that was the case, and it certainly occurred against Morales and even Cotto in spots. Duran was twice as effective as any of those aforementioned fighters in close, and would certainly have a field day with a stationary target.

Manny would be competitive early on - his athletic ability and hand speed will find the target, but once Duran starts to close the distance, Manny seems to struggle on the inside. Well you say he still a punchers chance, but Duran took full bloodied left hooks from a gigantic Middleweight in Iran Barkley. That was past his prime, and there's no way in hell Manny has ever been proven to hit in the same vicinity as a Thomas Hearns.

The smart money is on Roberto Duran. I think Chavez also beats Manny at 135lbs for the reasons I just mentioned, and Duran has better hand speed and was scarily good at going into the jaws of the lion and getting out without being hit cleanly to often. A good short compact puncher who's tough and strong enough to fend off Pacquiao's onslaught will be very effective I feel.

 

On paper Duran ruins him on the inside. Think about it, Manny Pacquiao is no technician whatsoever, well recently you've got some pivoting of the foot to turn his man, and that's it in his whole career from a technical standpoint. Here's where the likes of Pachilles thinks i'm being a Durantard, but no, Pacquiao is a force of nature and i recognize him for that. Let me say this though, his only chance here would be the same as what has been occurring in his actual career, where what is on paper is not what is reality and he's simply a force of nature that proves too much once again. I really don't see it personally.

Pacquiao's a great fighter and a monster in a fight. I don't understand why people are getting pissed off because we're picking ****ING ROBERTO DURAN over him. It's silly.

 

Safe to say, we all pick Duran to beat Hatton, Cotto, and Marquez comfortably.

And not to worry about the Classic, some people were suggesting Manny would have been very competitive with Ray Leonard at 147lbs. I think the Classic is certainly past it's prime.

 

Yeah i posted in the Pac-Leonard one a while ago.

I would LOVE to see Duran-Hatton, i'll be dreaming for a week now.

 

I don't think it would last to long.

 

We'd all be enjoying it for the short time it lasted.

 

Okay then, I believe that Duran is a beast and Pacquiao is a machine, both are ultra aggresive and any technical exchange would quickly turn into a brawl, Pac is faster at 147lbs and would frustrate Duran by moving in and back out, being a beast it'd cause Duran to get wreckless at times, expending more energy with the added risk of a flash KD. Pac, being a machine and having better stamina would carry on doing what he does, damage would accumulate and Duran might be stopped in the last couple of rounds. If it goes the distance, Duran picks up some earlier rounds, but the gap just gets wider and wider in Pacquiao's favour after the 6th.

 

Duran had the capacity to stand off and counter effectively. Pacquiao has the tendency to lead in with his head and sometimes telegraph his punches. I don't think it's out of the realms of possibility that Duran gets the better of the exchanges in the center of the ring.

 

I think Duran's defensive skills play a huge role in this fight. Duran is far better at making an opponent miss, staying in the pocket and firing back something meaningful. He made a career out of doing this, and it would show in this fight.

This fight is not just about speed, power and who's faster, it's also very much about who's catching what.

 

:good That's what I mean when I said he was good at going into the jaws of the lion and coming out clean. Swim without getting wet might be a better analogy. I called the man a subtle genius yesterday and it's obvious why, some people limit him as an aggressive powerhouse. He was so much more than that. He countered the breaks off Barkley.

 

Thanks for the level headed reply there. But in terms of your opinion i heavily disagree. You're overrating Pacquiao's in and out movement imo. He's not a lateral mover and the reason the movement has looked so effective imo recently is because he's initially walked right into opponents and shocked the **** out of them with his heavy shots and they're just backing off and become a target. That's what happened with Cotto for sure. Not to disrespect that which was a great win for Pacquiao, but it dosen't really have a bearing here.

When you say that the technical gulf wouldn't be a factor because it would be a brawl is the part which throws me off the most though. When peole talk of Duran being technically sublime they're not talking about him boxing at distance or weaving a pattern of magic around the ring with footwork. Duran is techincally amazing right where this fight would be, close quarters. I don't mean to sound a ***** here but that makes me think you haven't really analyzed Roberto Duran. His right hand from distance is one of the best too,s in history at closing distance quickly, and it's never telegraphed, his shoulder doesn't move, the shot just lands and can be sickening, next thing the opponent knows he's being ripped underneath and over the top in fours and fives and all athe while Duran is evading shots. He combined offence and defence better than even Mike Tyson and THAT is where technical brilliance lies, in the 'brawl'

Like i said, i just find it hard to get my head round that you're getting so pissed off over Duran being picked here. Pacquiao would very well beat many a great fighter imo, but it's just that he's being discussed against Duran here. Regular classic posters have picked him over quality fighters here before, he gets his credit here. We're just not getting carried away.

I don't see Pacquiao emulating the performance of Dejesus here, not because he's not as good, just because he fought totally different. And i think the whole Pacquiao being light years better technically now is overrated. He's just more composed, instead of rushing his man, he's taking a look at them and smashing them with fast combos. It's quality and it's great but it gets categorized wrong.

That's my opinion.

 

Pacquiao is not standing right infront of him at close range though..he's darting in and out extremely quickly. Even if Pacquiao's combinations will hit, please don't make Duran out to be a defensive wizard...they will hit and they will hurt and they will **** Duran off. I don't see Duran holding back and countering, i see him getting frustrated and rushing Pac after he darts back out, then getting countered with hook.