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

I agree with you there. But still, we're talking about a natural LW against arguably the 2nd best WW of all time, and a stylistic dilemma. Duran would fare better against other WW greats like Gavilan, Napoles, Basilio, Walker, etc.

 

Montreal Duran v New Orleans Leonard. Thats a tough one.

 

Duran's inconsistency happened on a regular basis from New Orleans onwards. Once Brown and Arcel left him that was his downfall. Those two old time guru's made him into the superb machine he eventually became during the late 70's. Not too sure what your take is on the early Duran, but he's a little too crude for my liking. Arcel and Brown gave something by the bucketload; refinement. They got his aggression and tamed it and that made him effecient and he became a better fighter for it. Duran did still baloon himself up in weight when in his prime. Sometimes he would call his manager, Carlos Eleta, and say "where are they, I need them" talking about Arcel and Brown. Duran while had bad habits and doing things he shouldn't, he knew his shortcomings. Some people have problems and don't give a toss, Duran knew better.

If Arcel and Brown were around after New Orleans I'm sure we'd have seen Duran keeping himself together.

 

I wouldn't say Duran was crude past a certain point. In the early days against Buchanan I agree, but by about thhe mid-70's he was excellent in my opinion. I thought he looked great in both of the last Dejesus fights despite being 3 or 4 years apart. In the final one, he was more methodical, though I liked the aggressive yet very skilled destruction of Dejesus in the first rematch.

Another one of his best was his easy destruction of Alvaro Rojas. Honestly, when I thought about it, he showed such slickness in this bout that he reminded me of an aggressive, offensive version of Wilfred Benitez.

 

Duran's game just improved as the 70's went by. IMO he was a bit careless and wreckless against De Jesus in their rematch. If De Jesus hadn't dropped Duran during the first round, as he did in their first fight also, we may well have seen Duran continue to be 'all guns blazing'. But after he was dropped he adjusted a bit and gradually and steadily wore De Jesus down. Excitement and revenge was on his mind. The third fight is Duran at his peak. His best showing as lightweight even though it wasn't a blitz in a couple of rounds. His defense, patience, boxing ability, and killer instinct. He put it all together.

He was crude to the point where it was all about throwing as much as possible rather than assesss the battlefield before doing so as he later did.

Yeah, he was lethal for that fight. Benny Huertas was another who fell to the canvas early. Just before the Buchanan fight.

 

Well, funny statement. How did he achieve what he achieved when he wasn´t a good h2h fighter? Imo someone who is successful in boxing has to be also a good fighter when you rate him h2h but not necessarily the other way round.

 

I would favour Ike Williams, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, Chavez, Benitez, Loi and Napoles over Pryor. And Barney Ross and Canzoneri would be 50/50. Pryor is probably the most

This content is protected

fighter in the classic section who did he beat? An old Arguello who was fighting two weights above his best and even then he needed his "black bottle" and

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

Wilfred Benitez would have had a tough time getting away from Pryor's flurrys and then taking them when he is hit. :good

Chavez vs Pryor would have been a battle, and would come down to had the more heart and who wanted it more.

Duran loses, because Pryor gets up on his toes like he did in the Arguello fight and pump that jab out of there all night long. Lopsided decision like Benitez and Leonard 3.

 

Duran was past his prime in those fights, and are you trying to imply Pryor had the boxing ability of Leonard or Benitez? Roberto has so many advantages over Aaron e.g Duran is the better boxer, had more one punch power, much better defence, better infighter and is much much more proven against quality opponents. And Pryor normally boxed in patches hardly ever for the full 15.

 

Hm, do you think Locche would stand a chance against Pryor?

 

Pryor doesn't have the discipline to accomplish such a strategy over the course of a fight with Duran. While Pryor could box at long range at times during fights, he was more inclined to getting involved with his opponent. Pryor's aggression and high punch output were his main weapons. It's just not 'him' to look to outbox Duran round after round.

Lopsided decision like Benitez and Leonard III?. Not a prayer. Ask anyone else on this forum, I'm sure other opinions will follow, they'll tell you the same as myself.

 

That is completely ridiculous to think that a fighter like Pryor, who isn't even known as an outboxer, could outbox a prime version of Duran like larger slicksters Benitez and Leonard outboxed shitty versions of Duran.

Pryor's style plays directly into Duran's hands. Pryor was no outboxer, he worked at his best at mid-range while comingforward. If he were to box, Duran would press him, and are you telling me Pryor's going to box circles around Duran like Leonard did? Are you just assuming Pryor had abilities that he never showed?

 

Without doubt. Duran is the most popular fighter on ESB.

Aaron Pryor has been quoted as saying he knew he couldn't beat Arguello by brawling. I don't think it's farfetched to believe he felt he would have to outbox Duran to win, and maybe he wouldn't do it for the whole fight, but in sperts it would probably win him some rounds. Pryor looked very impressive as a boxer, he had the handspeed and jab to spoil Duran's offense so he could never get set.

At 140, UD for Pryor.

 

Duran's boxing ability is underrated. I'd call that evens with him and Pryor. He had better power at 140lbs? Duran even at lightweight wasn't a chilling puncher. He would gradually wear opponents down over the course of a fight before taking them out, usually brutally. But he never had what I would define as 'one punch power'. Again, I'd call it evens with Pryor at 140lbs.

 

He never shown any boxing ability? Have you watched his first fight with Arguello? He boxed on the outside and was making Alexis look ameturish. Nearly all of his jabs were finding their mark, and Arguello was a lot taller than Duran and had a longer reach. Great fighters can change their style, and halfway through the fight when Duran is getting the better of the exchanges inside, Pryor would look to box from the outside.

And how would a 140 Duran be a peak Duran. I always thought the prime Duran was lightweight, whereas 140 very much belonged to Pryor.