Sorry, I didn´t write clearly what I meant. I meant that on their peak they have 50 % winning chances...
duran was past his prime when fighting those guys, you forgot to throw palimino in there, plus he beat the biggest fish in the sea which was leanord, plus duran threw the rematch agaisnt leanord
Bad timing They were scheduled to fight, but Quartey pulled out when he was offered the De La Hoya bout. Bad timing.
Only one of these matchups was ever a serious possibility. In the mid and late 1970's, when Duran was proclaimed to be the P4P Numero Uno, boxing experts agreed that the one man near his weight who had the best chance of beating him was Arguello. After Roberto unified the lightweight title against DeJesus, Alexis stepped up in weight, to establish himself as a contender in that division. Unfortunately, Vilomar Fernandez derailed his initial foray as a lightweight, and Duran vacated his championship a few months later. (The next time Arguello tried stepping up in weight, he got by Boza Edwards, but was dropped and nearly derailed again by Ramirez.) It was the closest Alexis ever came to competing for an undisputed title. Retroactively, it's obvious that at full strength Duran probably would have knocked out Alexis, but if Arguello had managed to defeat Fernandez impressively, and was fortunate enough to get a weight weakened Duran into the ring for the undisputed LW Title, he might have become one of the only two undisputed champions in boxing (until SRL/Hearns I). Alex might have then ruled the lightweight roost as long as Duran did, although better yet for him, as a unified champion. Duran/Pryor would have gone to Roberto by UD. Aaron was wide open and a headhunter. The lower and more defensively skilled Duran was an experienced streetfighter (an asset most in evidence during his mugging of Davey Moore), and a dedicated bodypuncher. The Hawk didn't have the sort of accuracy or firepower that would have been needed to kayo Duran, and El Cholo would have outscored him badly. Even if peak Pryor was impervious, in the game of hitting without being hit, he would have finished a distant second.
I can speak factually for Arguello Arguello had no sooner expressed interest in moving up to take on Duran when he (Dooran) jumped not one but two divisions looking for the big fights. I actually have a pic somewhere of Duran cocking his right fist at an Arguello photo. Neither ducked each other. Duran would have been a terrible style match for Alexis, bless him.
I think that was to build that 78 bout, that was all but signed, sealed and delivered only for Arguello to blow a tune up non title bout.
I've seen that pic as well, JT. Alex had considered Duran a friend, but when they crossed paths during that period, El Cholo, being the way he was at the time (a competitor who motivated himself through hating all of his opponents), glared at Arguello, and said, "When we fight, I'll kill you!" (Surprise, surprise.) Alexis, ever the Dale Carnegie student, was shocked at Roberto's sudden hostility, but he should have known Duran well enough to expect behaviour like that.
Peter Arnold claimed a match was being planned after Arguello/Tam, at the Inglewood Forum, only for Arguello to blow it when he lost to New York cabbie Vilomar Fernandez. (Page 180 Lords of the Ring)
