Who is more skilled. Floyd Mayweather or Roberto Duran

[Own3d]

Originally Posted by Fighting_Pride

duran no question about it. he beat a prime leonard and that carries massive credit. as for mayweather, dela hoya was no leonard, he might have been a bigger draw but skill wise, duran was better than mayweather.

Him beating better fighters doesn't mean he's got better boxing skill, he could beat Mayweather and still have less boxing skill. It's only one part of what makes a good fighter, mental and physical attributes are just as important.

[kiDynamite92]

Mayweather looks slick because of the quality of his opposition, who I would say is decent at best. Duran has my vote hands down, he managed to go all the way up to middleweight and go the distance in a competitive fight against the greatest middleweight ever. Mayweather on the other hand won't fight sergio even at 154.

[NChristo]

Not many boxers are in the debate for being as skilled as Duran, Mayweather is one that is definitely in it but I still feel Duran is the more skilled and well rounded boxer.

[hugh grant]

Duran is more skilled, as he was able to apply his skills against better fighters than Floyd. Floyd is more tricky cos Floyd dont want to engage and fight, make him tricky but not more skilled. Not wanting to be hit, dont make you more skilled.

Duran was more confident of his abilities, probably cos he has more more skills. Floyd is a bit more wary of opponents as he doubts his own skill.s

[Capaedia]

Originally Posted by kiDynamite92

Mayweather looks slick because of the quality of his opposition, who I would say is decent at best.

Do you hold Tyson to this standard?

Castillo and Corrales are better wins than anything Tyson has.

[BennyST]

Well, they have similar levels but in different areas with their lesser areas both being incredible. Duran was a remarkably proficient offensive counter puncher with amazing defense. His all around ability was amazing, plus he had scary det,ination, stamina, will and power. His offence was his main point though. Floyd is a remarkably effective defensive counter puncher whose offence is also excellent. So they both equal out in a way.

Floyd better defense, but focuses on his defense more. Duran better offence but focuses on offence more and has greater power. They were/are both pure counter punchers though.

It's hard to say though. Duran applied his skills to much greater fighters, but also had huge discipline issues. Floyd hasn't fought nearly as good opposition but has shown to be much more consistent in training than Duran.

[#1Assassin]

very hard question to answer since neither fighter had any real technical flaws imo. they both had excellent fundamentals, could fight at any range, fight going backwards or forwards, lead or counter, had a complete arsenal of punches, could use their arms & gloves, headmovement or legs for defense etc..

duran did fail to adapt to hearns' height and reach, then again he never really got a chance to adapt before he got cracked and i doubt mayweather would have done much better anyways. floyd had better footwork in his prime, but duran was a better offensive fighter even though floyds offense is severely underrated.

its a very tough question, floyd could apply more styles in the ring but duran truly mastered his style of fighting to perfection. i guess im leaning towards duran but idk. some fighters are so skilled its hard to say anyone is more skilled than them, duran and mayweather are both at that level imo. if theres no holes in their game how can you seperate them?

[junior gong]

Duran for me, and thats not to downplay Floyd's skill. There are very few men in history that have had a better defense than Floyd, but thats only one aspect that a fighter needs. Duran was just about the complete fighter, a lot of people forget this or have come to the sport too late to really appreciate just what a force he was.

[IronDanHamza]

Hard question to answer.

In terms of solely skill, they are up there with the very best.

I'd lean on Duran because he applied it aganinst much better fighters.

[TheHolyCross]

floyd mayweather is a hype job, as good as he is, he's hyped way beyond that

duran is more skilled