Do you classify Duran as a Big Lightweight in his Prime

[Panamaniac]

With the exception of one infamous aberration and post-prime intemperance, Duran was "big" were it counted most - of heart.

[them_apples]

The thread I started about Rocky G and Jake Lamotta got me thinking about dominate fighters like Jake who were very strong for there weight classes. I was wondering if Duran would fall into the same category? He actually looked small compared to Ray Lampkin. I know Ray Leonard was very open with his praise of Duran's Strength in there first fight.

He had a big ass head and mittens for a dude his size, he would easily baloon up to 180 between fights. Dude was like a 5'7 HW. I'd say he was certainly a big and strong LW, he took flush punches from barkley and Hagler and didn't seem to care.

[them_apples]

compared to modern LW, no. these guys cut massive weight, weigh 135, and put on 10-20 lbs. rios was in the mid 150's on fight night when he was a LW.


duran took fights above 135 pretty often when his title wasn't on the line, though. he wasn't small.

Duran was known to cut massive weight as well, and I think some of these Lw's are lifting weights and arent always that cut. When you see Duran stand beside Pacquiao and Hatton even in his old age hes got a bigger skull and fists.

Back in the day they didnt carry much mass but clearly he had the frame too hold it. Timothy Bradley comes in at 160 but hes not big at all. It's from weights. He looked smaller then Pac, a natural FW.

[New England]

Duran was known to cut massive weight as well, and I think some of these Lw's are lifting weights and arent always that cut. When you see Duran stand beside Pacquiao and Hatton even in his old age hes got a bigger skull and fists.

Back in the day they didnt carry much mass but clearly he had the frame too hold it. Timothy Bradley comes in at 160 but hes not big at all. It's from weights. He looked smaller then Pac, a natural FW.

bradley is a much bigger guy than pacquiao. much bigger. he does not have the type of body that is built up with weight lifting. that's his natural physique. he might lift weights a bit, but he's not a featherweight who has lifted his way into 140 and 147. that's ridiculous.

[them_apples]

bradley is a much bigger guy than pacquiao. much bigger. he does not have the type of body that is built up with weight lifting. that's his natural physique. he might lift weights a bit, but he's not a featherweight who has lifted his way into 140 and 147. that's ridiculous.

Bradley has packed on more muscle then Pacquiao, but Pacquiaos frame is damn near the same if not bigger. His skull is huge and his hands and wrists are as well.

Bradley might have more natural mass (considering hes athletic and is on a vegan diet) but the same can be said that Pacquiao looked starved at 126 and even 130. He was 146 lbs against Marquez in their second fight. On fight night he still looked starved.

Mass generally goes up and down and can be tampered with, bone structure is the true definition of a mans size, and is an indication of his internals as well (lung size, organs, heart). These are what define big men. George Foreman was 217 lbs against Frazier and ended up well over 250 by his end career, he was always the biggest man in the ring.

Wladmir and Vitali are often thought to be the same size, I beg to differ, Vitali started his career 10-15 lbs heavier than Wladmir, this might explain why he can actually take a punch. Wladmir "lifted" his way into being a big man when in reality he's just a "tall" man (6'6 219 career start). (for a heavyweight speaking of course).

If you are born with muscle generally you are more comfortable walking around with the extra weight (Tyson and Duran).

considering you have boxed before (I think), I'm sure you can testify when sparring that you quickly figure out who the strong kids are, regardless of how 'jacked' some people are.

[Humean]

Duran was known to cut massive weight as well, and I think some of these Lw's are lifting weights and arent always that cut. When you see Duran stand beside Pacquiao and Hatton even in his old age hes got a bigger skull and fists.

Back in the day they didnt carry much mass but clearly he had the frame too hold it. Timothy Bradley comes in at 160 but hes not big at all. It's from weights. He looked smaller then Pac, a natural FW.

Duran certainly had large fists and his skull may have been large but neither are important in determining frame size. If you look at the reported ankle and wrist measurements of Duran you will see that he was about the same size as Floyd Mayweather jr. That means he was a fairly big lightweight but certainly not huge.

Pacquiao is bigger than Duran, indeed Pacquiao's frame is huge considering his height.

[them_apples]

Duran certainly had large fists and his skull may have been large but neither are important in determining frame size. If you look at the reported ankle and wrist measurements of Duran you will see that he was about the same size as Floyd Mayweather jr. That means he was a fairly big lightweight but certainly not huge.

Pacquiao is bigger than Duran, indeed Pacquiao's frame is huge considering his height.

Pacquiaos got big wrists which probably allow him to throw with reckless abandon, but hes got a small rib cage. wrist size is how you measure frame size on the internet, but there are plenty of other indicators, essentially any area not covered in muscle. Skull size and hands do count, wrists, ankles, rib cage..even the width of the shoulders can indicate how much weight a person can carry and how much "size" they possess. Duran was thick through and through, this, along with heart is what gave him the durability to take a guy like Marvin Hagler's punches, arguably the greatest MW ever with a great knockout record.

[BennyST]

Duran was known to cut massive weight as well, and I think some of these Lw's are lifting weights and arent always that cut. When you see Duran stand beside Pacquiao and Hatton even in his old age hes got a bigger skull and fists.

Back in the day they didnt carry much mass but clearly he had the frame too hold it. Timothy Bradley comes in at 160 but hes not big at all. It's from weights. He looked smaller then Pac, a natural FW.

You're comparing a fat, double chinned, pudgy fisted 60 year old to young, pro boxers and going by their comparative skull and fist size? Are you kidding?

You've seen what five or so years has done to Pacs head, from 126-147. Now imagine what it'll be like when he hasn't trained in decades and is an out of shape 60 year old.

Prime Duran at lightweight: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...e_u0pG0vjJsDZd

Significantly smaller in height, reach....and head size.

Many years later as a slightly out of shape 30 year old in between fights announcing his upcoming bout with Leonard: http://www.fighttoys.com/Leonard-Duran%204-23-80a.jpg

Kind of looks like a smaller fighter vs a bigger fighter ie natural lightweight vs natural welterweight.

Cutting weight because you're a lazy, incredibly debaucherous, glutt is one thing. Cutting weight because you're naturally much too big is another. Duran was the first and had no problem with weight until later on when he became well known and partied madly. He fought at lightweight, weighing in as a lightweight, on the day, for a decade until his late twenties. That's not what happens to guys who struggle with weight because they are huge for the division. He struggled with weight later because he was fat from partying, and was able to cut large amounts quickly because he was naturally small.

Duran in his prime: http://*************/watch?v=-4UDb-_TSCg

http://*************/watch?v=UYUC3NnaH8I

I consider Duran as a perfect sized lightweight. Strong, but lean and fast. Not very tall but not too short either. Just a good, natural size lightweight. Carried the weight pretty well to 140/147, though was just soft and pudgy at anything above, even soft at 147 if not trained properly.

[Humean]

Pacquiaos got big wrists which probably allow him to throw with reckless abandon, but hes got a small rib cage. wrist size is how you measure frame size on the internet, but there are plenty of other indicators, essentially any area not covered in muscle. Skull size and hands do count, wrists, ankles, rib cage..even the width of the shoulders can indicate how much weight a person can carry and how much "size" they possess. Duran was thick through and through, this, along with heart is what gave him the durability to take a guy like Marvin Hagler's punches, arguably the greatest MW ever with a great knockout record.

The wrist and ankles (also elbow breadth) are the most accurate way you measure the frame in light of a person's height. All the rest is fairly insignificant. Like I said i'd say that Duran is pretty much the same size as Floyd. Duran really wasn't that big, it is a testament to his chin and skills that he was able to fight as high a weight as he did.

[soul_survivor]

I'm just gona weigh in with my own opinions here, I think Duran was a pretty average sized lightweight with what I consider to be the best height for a man fighting at 135.

It's testament to Duran's skill, will to win (mostly) and in ring smarts that he managed to compete and win at welter and middleweight, heck he even fought at super middle.