Why Duran Is Ranked So High?

I think he was great. I don't think Zab Judah is who he should be compared to, but he was not as great as some people said. Judah compared to Duran is not possible Duran was great and that is why Hearns beating him and stopping him in 1984 is such a great accomplishment. No one would really be shocked who stops Judah and who beats him. Duran's opposition prior to 1980 lacks the Arguello type opponents. His opposition after 1980 is much much much better. When he stepped up in 1980 in weight (which he really fought at 154 as early as 1978 before Hearns,Benitez,Leonard fought at Jr. Mid) he lost to all the greats he ever fought. He beat Ray in what could be called Ray being inexperienced and fighting Duran's fight. But Duran did lose to all the greats he ever fought, and never knocked out a great. Ever. The best fighter he knocked out was probably Pipino Cuevas who was near the end of his fighting career when Duran beat him. I agree that he is overrated, but I do think he is great. His lightweight career was solid and those guys were pretty good fighters, but not exceptional and not a great list of fighters, the best being Dejesus. Buchanan is overrated just because people want to rate Duran so high for beating him.

 

The reason Ray Leonard or Ali is top 10 ATG is because they beat fellow ATG fighters. Those 5 you mention for Duran are not ATG. And Duran did fight at 154 prior to Hearns,Benitez and Leonard fighting that high, so the excuse that he was small and not used to the weight is not legitimate. Not for an excuse. Duran gets too many excuses. He was a great dominant lightweight who happened to move up and fight better guys and not be able to beat them, so he got excuses for not being able to beat the greater guys, even though he never fought that level at lightweight. I think Pernell or Floyd would have outboxed him the same way he was outboxed by Ray or Benitez. I think the knockout he got from Hearns was rare, and only a man with Hearns power and speed could have done that with the great chin of Duran. He just did not fight that style or level at lightweight. Is anyone really going to argue that Dejesus, Marcel,Palomino,Buchanan is at the level of Whitaker and Mayweather? By the way, the comparison to Judah is way off. Duran is great. A warrior. My comments are about excuses and even if you are a warrior and great, sometimes there are greater faster guys. If if there are, excuses are not fair to the faster guys who were great also. But that means Duran is not top 10 ATG. Top 25. sure.

 

Let's not forget the Featherweight Champions in 1970 would not fight him,

And the Super-Featherweight Champions in 1971 avoided him also.

In 1970, he was only 19, and a Top 10 (#8 Ranked) Featherweight after defeating Ernesto Marcel.

He defeated some pretty good characters in 1970 and 1971, that many 'posters' have never heard of.

* Felipe Torres
* Clemente Mucino
* Jose Angel Herrera
* Jose Acosta
* Lloyd Marshall
* Fermin Soto

 

I don't care what anyone else says. This to me is the single best fight I've ever saw anyone fight and I've been watching boxing for over 40 years.

(most pick his fight against SRL and I can live with that, both are in a very stratified league)

Even Duran calls it his best win.

If anyone want's to know what the sport of boxing is about, they should watch this fight.

If anyone questions Duran's defense they should watch this fight.

If anyone wants to know if he can take a punch, they should watch this fight.

If anyone what's to know what type of power he had, they should watch this fight.

 

Forgetting records for a moment.

My 'go to' fight for skills - when I need to show someone something undeniable - is Duran-Palomino.

An utterly dominant demonstration of a truly complete skill set and self ease.

 

DeJesus III wasn't bad either.

 

Seconded.

 

Top 10? More like top 1.

 

Dude. Don't even bother debating "common sense" with these clowns on esb. This is an obvious hate forum. They all have agenda's. They hate certain fighters. Mainly blacks. And you should never mention Zab's name. You might get banned. Lol in reality Duran wasn't that great. But he's definitely an atg. Duran was way better than zab. But that's a good comparison for the point your trying to get across. He lost most of his big fights and quit a few times.

 

Sounds like Vitali

No Duran isn't overrated, he's 1 of the best ever P4P

 

A couple of bouts in the 1970's that may have 'cemented' Roberto as a
'Super Champion'.

* Antonio Cervantes........ (WBA Light-Welterweight Champion)
* Saensak Muangsurin...... (WBC Light-Welterweight Champion)
* Sang-Hyun Kim............. (WBC Light-Welterweight Champion)
* Rodolfo Gonzalez........... (WBC Lightweight Champion)
* Ben Villaflor.................. (WBA Super-Featherweight Champion)

 

:nono

This is why some people should just stick to the general forum.