Win you rate higher....Morales over Pacquiao or Esteban DeJesus over Duran?

Well Dejesus vs Duran was a higher quality fight between two better fighters imo.Morales vs Pac is a slopfest in comparison.

As far as the inherent quality of the win is concerned it's a lot closer though.

Dejesus only beat Duran over 10 rounds, plus it was an over the weight non-title bout ambush against a Duran who wasn't at his sharpest and probaly not expecting the challenge he got.I'll hasten to add for the angry "every duran loss has TEh excuzes!!" crowd that it was a mighty accomplishment against an already more or less great young fighter, even if he wasn't quite in the shape of more important title defences/early young contender bouts for him circa that time period..ala Buchanan, Marcel, Suzuki, Kobayashi etc...

I don't feel Dejesus would have won over 12 or 15 rounds against even that version.Also, while Duran is already a beast and a great fighter, he would improve a good deal technically over the next couple of years.Quite a bit more than Pac post Morales imo.

In other words there are more things you could pick at for Esteban's win i feel.The only real thing to pick at for Morales' win is that Pac improved a notch or two, by refining his right hand and footwork.It was a high stakes world title fight with Pac in top shape and well aware of the task in front of him...and with youth on his side.

Gimme Morales vs Pac as the better win.The only thing that makes me hesitate really is that i think an 80% young Duran is still a better fighter and more of a mountain to overcome than Manny Pacquaio.But then i feel Dejesus was quite a terrific talent in his own right, so it evens that edge out.

Duran coming back to knock out a peak Dejesus in the rematch(or Manny smashing Barrera to bits and taking his heart) is a better win than either imo, but that's not the question.

 

Morales defeating Pacquiao was outstanding. He was physically not the same, i believe, after the Barrera trilogy. Pacman had just obliterated Barrera. Psychologically i think this is an epic feat for Morales. He went to war with him to do it as well, what heart and willpower.

lora mentions above how the skill level involved is greater in Dejesus vs Duran, which may be the case. But the heart and determination involved in Morales vs Pacman is equally greater. Pacquiao's spirit is unbreakable, adding to the physical and psychological mountains Morales had to climb. Duran's desire was not always there(i cant belive "he didnt train" is being put forward again), and his spirit could be broken to the point of him quitting, an advantage in class on the night was all that Dejesus needed to overcome Duran. Morales needed much more, in my opinion

 

Yes you can, Pachilles.

 

Who said he didn't train.That's not what i was trying to get at, and you know it.Ah, to hell with trying to analyse a fight in depth...

I don't think i would say any of his loses while still a good fighter came down to that simple fact other than the Kirkland Laing fight, where anyone with eyes can see he was a fat gelatinous cube.Never bought someone saying that for the Benitez fight either.don't really know what to think about the Leonard rematch, but **** that fight i'd be happy if it was never spoken of again.

Now if anyone wants to delude themself into believing that Duran was 100% and at his absolute peak for every fight from 1969 to 1990 through Lightweight to Middleweight then be my guest.Good old MAG.

 

I wish this fight had been allowed to go the distance so Leonard would receive his due for beating Hands of Stone.

 

Performance wise, or just having the W?