Why is Roberto Duran rated so high?

[frankenfrank]

I don't know if he was the best LW of all time.
For me winning against bigger men counts more and losing against them counts less , and Duran was never a MW not even a LMW.
However , I also count stoppage wins more and decision losses less , and Duran's wins against bigger men were decisions and his losses mostly by stoppage.
Davey Moore came injured to their fight BTW.
I count his performances against Leonard , Castro , Barkley , Sims , DeJesus in his favor.
But despite his great physical disadvantage compared to Hearns , I count his humiliating KO loss against Duran , but not like I count Wlad's and Lewis' stoppage losses against them.
I also count his stoppage loss to Leonard against him and his knockdowns against DeJesus including his loss to DeJesus must not be ignored.

All in all , I think he is a borderline top10 , I can understand people picking Pernell Whitaker instead of him , but I still go with Duran.

Duran should be ranked above Chavez however , as Chavez was stopped in his best weight , and as I said before , most of Duran's high profile career was remote from his best weight.

[bojangles1987]

The fact that he stayed so relevant through time and weight classes he wasn't fit for was a great feat. He didn't always win, but he gave and could give anyone a run for their money regardless of weight class. He's beaten some really great fighters and hung in there with the best from 1968-2001.

This is definitely why. He was a world class competitor at weight classes he had no business being world class in.

[BennyST]

Duran's wins against bigger men were decisions and his losses mostly by stoppage.

How were his losses mostly by stoppage? Considering the only guy that could stop him was Hearns....Well.

I'm a bit lost by your post. He was one of the few guys that was nearly impossible to stop, as seen by the fact that the only one who was able to do it was a prime Hearns at 154.

So, it is actually the opposite. Apart from two fights, one at 154 against a prime Hearns, and the other at 160 when he was fifty years old against a prime Joppy, he was never stopped or even close to being stopped. So how does that equal him being always stopped in his losses?



The fact that the only guy who could stop him was Hearns, even though he was a natural 135 fighter, and all his losses (apart from the opponents he also beat ie. Leonard and De Jesus) were all at 154 or above speaks volumes considering he was also above thirty years of age and only 5'6/7" against ATG 154/160/168 pounders, it is amazing that he wasn't stopped a hell of a lot more.

The only other guy that I can't think of with a similar toughness is James Toney, but he never fought anyone like Hearns at HW.

[frankenfrank]

How were his losses mostly by stoppage? Considering the only guy that could stop him was Hearns....Well.

I'm a bit lost by your post. He was one of the few guys that was nearly impossible to stop, as seen by the fact that the only one who was able to do it was a prime Hearns at 154.

So, it is actually the opposite. Apart from two fights, one at 154 against a prime Hearns, and the other at 160 when he was fifty years old against a prime Joppy, he was never stopped or even close to being stopped. So how does that equal him being always stopped in his losses?



The fact that the only guy who could stop him was Hearns, even though he was a natural 135 fighter, and all his losses (apart from the opponents he also beat ie. Leonard and De Jesus) were all at 154 or above speaks volumes considering he was also above thirty years of age and only 5'6/7" against ATG 154/160/168 pounders, it is amazing that he wasn't stopped a hell of a lot more.

(1) Duran was 47 and not 50 when he was stopped by Joppy who was far from great , and yes I know it does not count too much as it does not make too much difference.

(2) Duran was also 40 years old when he was stopped by Pat Lawlor and could not avenge it in the rematch , as he just got a decision in it.
And yes , I know that even this doesn't count too much as 40 years old for a ring worn midget is a lot.

(3) Duran was not a natural lightweight by these times and even not in the second leonard fight , unless you consider Delahoya , Mayweather , Mosley and Pacquiao natural lightweights as well.

The only other guy that I can't think of with a similar toughness is James Toney, but he never fought anyone like Hearns at HW.

HW for Toney is much more than LMW for Duran , not a good comparison.

220/160=1.375 > 1.14 =154/1351

Not to mention James will be outweighed even more against most of the elite HWs , as in HW there is no limit , and in fact James' dry weight percentage is one of the lowest in the HW division.
So it is even worse for James than the calculation above.
Wrong comparison.

[SugarRayCurtain]

name me a lightweight who won the middleweight championship?

thats why

[Obama]

name me a lightweight who won the middleweight championship?

thats why

Sugar Ray Robinson
Young Corbett III
Oscar De La Hoya

And Henry Armstrong was robbed.

[frankenfrank]

name me a lightweight who won the middleweight championship?

thats why

Some may say Ray Robinson.
Some may say Oscar Delahoya (he actually held the SFW title as well as the LW)

And I just don't want to bother too much more.
But yes , Duran was a very good fighter , I think so for a while.

[HaglerSteelChin]

Sugar Ray Robinson
Young Corbett III
Oscar De La Hoya

And Henry Armstrong was robbed.

Garcia deserved to keep his title, is far from the robbery as reported by some, i did the scorecard and had it 5-4-1- Garcia. In the old days, you needed to take the title from the champ.

[gibo]

Felix Strum spanked hoja's ass. A gift win for him. So he really don't count!!

[HaglerSteelChin]

Felix Strum spanked hoja's ass. A gift win for him. So he really don't count!!

Agree 100%, that is a real robbery. Sturm was the WBO champ and got robbed simply to make sure that DLH vs Hopkins would happen. EVen DLH admitted the fight was "very close."

Hopkins was there the same day i don't remeber if he fought earlier or was just in the audience but he even said "I hope they don't check my blood pressure" as was afraid his big payday would be lost if DLH would lose the decision.