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Whitaker was an awesome defensive fighter but he was not the complete package Leonard was who was taller than Duran, physically strong, and a hard puncher. I say Duran runs him down and wins on the score cards by being the aggressor and landing the harder punches.
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Sorry of OT but whose the d00de in your signature?Comment
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Whitaker was the slickest thing I've ever seen at Lightweight, including Mr. Mayweather. I can easily see him frustrating the unholy hell out of Duran at 135; but Roberto wouldn't take any of his crap, so you can bet there would be fouls. Here's what most people don't realized about Whitaker, though...he's got that roughness, that dirtiness in him as well, always did. And Duran could potentially bring it out of him. This is an ugly fight, I'm talking Saddler-Pep ugly.
At 135 it's a toss up.
At 147...still a toss up.
At 154 it's Duran's show; he would have been physically too strong for Whitaker to deal with at this weight IMO.Comment
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I was going to bring up how dirty Whitiker is/can be as a fighter. This in turn would bring out the devil in Duran, Whitiker would get his worse then he's dishing out the illegal tactics.
Also, while it its true that Whitiker boxed Chavez, lets remember he had to stand his ground at times to fight with Chavez to back him off. And Chavez was already what 31, 32. So prime Duran who was also as relentless as Chavez or could be, Whitiker would have to trade with Duran to keep him off of him. Duran is a naturally bigger man then Chavez and im assuming has a bigger punch too, Whitiker trading with Duran as he did with Chavez would be a no, no. I can't see Whitiker winning against Duran. I could see it go all rounds, cause after all Whitiker can move, but I doubt he has enough to get Durans respect, aganist a prime Duran.Comment
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Which is why this would be an ugly ass fight; I mean rough and tumble. Remember, even a shot Whitaker took Trinidad's best punches and Tito knocked out Joppy, who while not a great Middleweight, was a natural Middleweight.
This fight is the Matador from Hell meeting the Bull from Hell. Chavez was aggressive and persistant as hell; but Duran was the Devil when he wanted to be.
Damn what a fight this would be....and not for the purist by any stretch of the imagination IMO.Comment
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Hell of a match-up.
Thing I keep coming back to, though, is what happened when Leonard refused to play Duran's game in the second fight, & quit in disgust.
Not a guy that deals with frustration well.
Think there was psych stuff going on from before the bout as well, but Whitaker's bread & butter was frustrating the **** out of opponents
(witness the Azumah Nelson fight)
Also Duran VS Benitiz - Duran going though a bad patch after the Leonard fiasco, but Benitiz completely frustrated him, & Duran not responding well.
Go for Whitaker in reasonably close, messy, exciting fight, in which Duran gets sloppier & wilder as the bout goes on.
(This is at 135 - probably 147 as well but much closer there.
By 154 Duran had calmed down a lot & think his stregth probably pulls it off.)Comment
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The guy in my sig is Viacheslav Datsik. Here's a highlight clip!'
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At lightweight, I think Duran takes this simply cuz he throws and he throws. Did I mention that he also throws? Whitaker wasn't active enough, and he didn't use his feet enough to make Duran have to find him. Whitaker of course would be elusive, but Duran would outwork him and land with the more telling blows downstairs. Edwin Viruet was a guy who made him have to work very hard because of his style, but Duran eventually figured him out. When Benitez beat him, who has the style closest to Whitaker's, Duran was on the slide and not training seriously. It would be a competitive bout, because both were at their primes at 135.Comment
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