Which fighters from boxing history would have beat Floyd Mayweather Jr?

Regarding Pryor against Mayweather. I see Pryor matching up pretty well against him on the outside. He's just so unpredictable in terms of where his punches are coming from, has rhythm, and can work well behind the jab. No question that Pryor's furious attacks and punch volume are his main attributes, but he could box on his toes laterally.

Mayweather's edge in handspeed would see him get the better of things at long range, only slightly. Pryor was adjustable from the waist up and being unorthodox technically would mean he'd be pretty elusive himself. Pryor was anything but measured and precise in his approach.

 

I wouldn't pick anybody over Prime Pryor at 140. :good

 

I'm thinking Whitaker, Napoles, possibly Loi, and Duran if he were to fight there could very well be favorites against Pryor.

 

Only Whitaker from that list. Duran was never as good out of his natural weight, and Pryor had more endurance then arguably all of those guys.

 

Duran from the Leonard fight was phenomenal and would've stopped Pryor. At his best at 140 he definitely has the style to beat Pryor, as Pryor coming to Duran would only lead to him being out-skilled on the inside and beaten to the body.

Napoles was arguably as slick a boxer as Whitaker with more power, though less defense. His only flaw was his cutting, which could possibly come into play but if not then he may very well have won.

Loi was an excellent bob and weaver defender with a great body attack who beat Carlos Ortiz 2 of 3.

 

Duran was an excellent welterweight excluding 'no mas'. He was equally as impressive as he was during his late lightweight days. His power diminished a bit, but he still had a decent stoppage rate mainly against welterweight contenders. And IMO his handspeed was still there, certainly impressive for a two weight jump. Palamino was thrown totally off his game against the fury of Duran in 1979. While Duran never stopped Palamino, he did manage to floor him. Duran's intelligence grew as he he stepped up in weight. In terms of Duran being the full package. Speed, stamina, reflexes, power, boxing ability, knowledge, ring generalship, etc. I'd say he was obviously at his peak as a fighter between 1975-1980. Although some may argue that his prime was exclusively at lightweight.

 

De La Hoya & 135, 140 takes Mayweather Jr. aswell IMO.
(At Lightweight & Jr Lightweight, DLH had 1 punch KO power)

 

I think the Duran of the first Leonard fight is grossely overrated. Fact is, had Leonard fought on the outside and not traded with Duran, Ray would have came out with the same decision he got in their third fight.

Napoles as slick as Whitaker? Nah.

I don't think it would be correct to pick other fighters over Pryor at 140. It was his weight class, and he never showed any vunerablility in the Arguello fight. Alexis hit harder than Duran.

 

De La Hoya stopped Tyson with a bodyshot at 140lbs, but when rounding all three of fights together at the weight I wouldn't say he could hit like a ton of bricks. Tyson, Chavez, and Gonzalez. I would say he was a 'good puncher' rather than a one punch knockout artist. More fights at the weight would have told us more about his power.

De La Hoya even at lightweight wasn't outright 'chilling'. Sure he knocked down and stopped fighters like Ruelas and Paez, but he couldn't drop Molina or Hernandez. Those two guys were durable right enough. I can't see De La Hoya putting Duran on his rear end at lightweight.

I might be wrong, but my feeling is that De La Hoya might have actually scored a flash knockdown against Molina. I'll need to check.

 

Pryor was a lightweight who moved up because he couldn't get a shot.he wasn't a bigger man than fighters like Ortiz or Duran.


As for Mayweather i'd add in Laguna, Dejesus and Buchanan.All would have a good chance.

 

That is completely ridiculous and I hope you don't actually think this way.

Yah. Napoles was as skilled a boxer as I've ever seen, had better footwork than Whitaker, better power, and better banging ability, though Whitaker was a more crafty inside fighter. Whitaker had the better jab, outside game, upper body movement, and overall defense, though Napoles had good, subtle head movement as well. Not as flashy.

When Arguello went to the body he did. Those were the only times of the fights Pryor looked uncomfortable, and Duran isn't as good a body puncher as Duran, nor as strong or skilled an inside fighter, which would be to Pryor's disadvantage, as he was at his best at mid-range.

 

Oh. come on.

How is that ridiclious?

Roberto Duran was thoroughly outboxed by Benitez, and his two return bouts with Leonard weren't competitive for most part. I give Duran all the credit in the world for pulling out the win, but Leonard lost it more than he won it in my eyes.

Duran gets more credit for beating Leonard than Ray did for beating Hagler. It's all to do with dislike for Ray's personality, and that isn't how it should be.

 

Ray beat Hagler less convincingly than Duran beat Leonard. The Duran of the higher weights was for the most part very inconsistent, which you have to take into account when comparing jim to a pre-Leonard II Duran. The Duran of LW was more consistent than at higher weights, especially in title fights. Duran at WW against Leonard was at his most determined ever, like Frazier in the first Ali fight. Put on a spectacular performance. If you can't appreciate Duran, you can't appreciate technical brilliance and versatility in a boxer.

And not to mention, as I've said, Pryor matches up horribly with Duran, who'd eat him up with body shots as Pryor would constantly come straight into them and into Duran's grasps.