what does it take to beat a prime whitaker???

At 135 he was. At welterweight, that's another story.

 

A slip, though ruled a knockdown.

 

the loss he has on his record proves otherwise, he was the 1st or 2nd best ever at the weight, but as I said b4 no man is unbeatable.

 

there was nothing illegitimate about that knockdown..oscar went lefty and whitaker made him pay for it

 

Warning: Long post, but I feel it's neccessary because I'm going to try and tackle this fight from every angle.

The Viruet fight is a great example of why I favor Whitaker. Buchanan was a great all around boxer, but was never adverse to a good fight, which is why he could never beat Duran. He bounced on his toes, and liked to outbox the opponent, but he was never one to box off the backfoot like Whitaker, he stood within range to box you, and was a great slugger himself.

Viruet, on the other hand, not only stayed on the backfoot and used lateral movement, but used clowning tactics, bolo punches, etc to get under Duran's skin and make it harder to for his style to work against. Duran only won that fight about 6 rounds to 4. Against Whitaker, unlike against Viruet, he'd be facing a much better, more constant jab, and quite simply, much better overall skills.

However, that was also a non-title fight, and Duran was often not at his best or most motivated in those fights, so if you want to go in that direction I will understand. But, it still doesn't change the fact that, even at higher weights, if there was a foil to Duran's style, it was the slicker moving type. Obviously Duran was not at his true best above LW, but when you look at the types of fighters that gave him trouble throughout his career, you'll see a trend. Even when past his prime at higher weights, he was able to beat up guys like Moore, Cuevas, Barkley, etc because their style fell into his hands. However, against guys like Benitez, Laing, and Leonard when Leonard decided to box and move(even in spurts in their first fight) he seemed very out of his element. All slick, quick, unorthodox boxers who countered and out-maneuvered Duran.

Getting back to a LW Duran, I'll break it down as to just exactly how I see this fight playing out:

Duran was a stalker and a punisher, a brute force, not a quintessential pressure fighter like Chavez, who looked to cut off the ring, go to the body, and work you over for ther later rounds. Often times that is what Duran's style lead to(as a good deal of his late rounds KO's suggest), but for the most part, he was there to hurt you from the get-go. My point in rambling on about this is that he was not as adept at cutting off the ring as the more conventional pressure fighters. Instead, he'd rely on his speed and feints to get inside on a boxer(he was great at closing the distance), rather than stalking them. Against Whitaker, a fighter who'd fight this fight mostly off the backfoot, behind a constant jab(similar to the way he did in the Nelson fight) he'd have a much harder time closing the distance as he would with a more conventional boxer, because Whitaker would be constantly in motion, working behind the jab.

Duran's tenacity and relentlessness would at times lead to him closing the distance between the two of them, but not as effectively as usual, given he wouldn't have the time to work Whitaker over, and Whitaker would not be sucked into a brawl. Also, Whitaker was an excellent inside fighter who'd be more than up to the challenge of hanging with Duran in close quarters when the distance was closed. The majority of the fight however, would be with Duran looking to close the distance, while Whitaker worked off an effective jab, straight lefts, right hooks, etc. Duran would grow frustrated in this fight, which would lead to less calculated attacks at times from a very calculating fighter.

Would Whitaker shut him out? No, this is Duran we're talking about, and as I said, he'd certainly manage to close the distance at times, roughing Pea up, but Pea's skills on the inside and smart strategy would see him through it, as he wouldn't be lured into a brawl. He was smart enough to stick with the winning strategy even when the going got tough, as he showed against Nelson when Nelson tried his roughing tactics. But I do think Whitaker would win convincingly, by a few points on the scorecards(as long as they weren't the usual Whitaker judges).

 

Raging B(_)LL of the Classic Forum has footage of him. Then again, you'll not see a poster with a better, deeper fight collection than B(_)LL. Amazing. Perhaps the best poster on the site as well.

 

You consider the "loss" to Ramirez legitimate? That fight was about as one-sided as Mayweather/Baldomir. Ramirez was constantly applying the pressure, but Whitaker was constantly landing the better shots, while avoiding Ramirez's.

 

What do you think it would take to have him upload it? I'm also interested in seeing some prime Too Sharp.

 

Man, you know that loss was Bull****!!!

 

Does he sell any of his fights?

 

de la hoya? Tito?:huh

 

I did..and i answered the question:hey

 

Honestly I believe both fighters could beat each other, its a toss up...we are talking bout possibly the best two lightweights ever. The thread is what does it take to beat a prime Whitaker I say a prime Duran on one of his best nights. Whitaker had the style to beat Duran, but Duran also had the style and determination to turn the tables on Whitaker as well. Duran was a great counterpuncher in his own right and was a great bodypuncher and he'd know what to do to slow down a fighter of Whitaker's ilk

 

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