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The higher weights would favour duran cuz he's bigger in size. At 135 i would pick sweet pea to beat him the same way benitez did. Both of these guys accomplished everything you could at lightweight so they moved up in weight, however whitaker was the one that had more success at higher weights as he became champ at 147 for 4 years. Moved up to 154 and took vazquez's belt, pernell's real record is 42-3 and 1 no contest. He beat both chavez and ramirez, that was painfully obvious.
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Sweet Pea did better because he had a style that used guile and quickness over strength, things that little men have over big men. Duran's style, as slick as he was, also relied on his strength and punching power, attributes that diminished in comparison to his increasingly stronger opponents as he went up in weight.
Of course an aggressive little guy is going to have more difficulty against taller bigger framed opponents when his power is no longer so threatening.
In a head to head matchup, Sweet Pea and Duran would be an interesting fight to see. Not sure who'd win but I couldn't use the success each had at higher weights as a deciding factor. Sweet Pea had a style that translated better against bigger opponents.Comment
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At 135...I see this being a closer version of the Whitaker/Nelson bout. Whitaker uses the cute jab to set up the left hand downstairs. Whitaker uses his powerful legs to circle away from Duran while popping the jab. Duran cutting off the ring and just touching Pernell until he could set up the hard shots downstairs.
Duran starts finding a home for right hands upstairs as the rounds go on. He doesn't neccessarily land them all really hard or clean, but they move Whitaker back and give Duran more clearance to bully his smaller opponent. Whitaker keeps the jab going and scores with it more than Duran would like. Whitaker lands some really nice left hands off his back foot that keep Duran honest. Duran starts thinking about the left hand and he stops punching as much to figure out an angle. Pernell capitalizes with some good combination punching to the head and body...Duran slips away and catches some of the combo on his gloves. In the later rounds Pernell is tiring from the pressure and body punching of Duran. Duran lands a straight right hand that knocks Pernell on his butt. Whitaker is not hurt but is bothered by Durans determination. As the final bell rings in the 12th it's a razor thin fight that could go either way.
I'd favor Whitaker in a 12 round affair at his best, but it's really even money. 15 I'd favor Duran, but again it'd be closer than close.Comment
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