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im a big duran fan.. but mr sweat pea would beat him and i think quite easily.. he has more speed and superior defense.. pernell wouldnt hurt duran at all but he would win on points.. sweat pea wouldnt make the mistake leonard made in the first fight by fighting duran's fight
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Very tough to call. I do think both guys have a good chance, but with their best I would take Duran very slightly. People will probably compare Whitaker Duran to Whitaker Chavez, with the big problem there being that Duran and Chavez really didn't fight much alike at all. I guess the only comparison would be the offense, but, Duran was a hell of a lot faster than Chavez was and also much harder to hit.
Whitaker did have a tendency to stand in a fair bit which would play against him here, so I would see this as a stick and move fight for Whitaker which brings up his chances. Even though many people say that the moving boxer frustrated Duran, the only one do ever actually beat him at that style was Leonard, who was a vastly different type of fighter than Whitaker. Much taller, and also had a faster, longer, more prominent jab and used his legs a hell of a lot more. Apart from Leonard though, Duran actually fought quite a lot of great boxer/movers at lightweight. Marcel (this was actually at FW. Marcel was a brilliant fighter and is a HOF nominee this year), Mamby, Buchanan, Viruet etc etc. All were beaten handily.
I don't know, there are so many factors that could play into this fight, but having watched all their respective fights at lightweight though, I would take Duran by a very thin decision. He had the perfect mix of brilliant defense when coming in and was impossible to hit cleanly on the inside and his offensive skills would be the big difference I think. They would both struggle to land well on each other up the top but Whitaker was susceptible to straight rights (he was put down quite a number of times by that exact punch) and Duran had a very sneaky, fast, hard one which could work off his body attack to slow Pea down.
They never really fought anyone that was as good as each other though. Duran came much closer I think having faced better opposition especially at lightweight. Whitaker fought guys that many would compare to this fight such as Ramirez and Chavez, but they would not compare at all really. Slower, more predictable, easier to hit and didn't have the boxing skill that Duran had.
By the time Duran started getting beaten by the faster boxers, it was because he himself had significantly slowed. At lightweight he was often faster than those boxers though which is the reason I could see this going his way. He would be getting off as quick as Whitaker would be.
Hard to call though. Would have been very exciting to see. The difference I see is that Pea would still have to get in to land enough to out-work Duran. It would on those exchanges that I would see Duran just coming off the better. Nonetheless, this is one fight that could go either way. For me though, I would take Duran.Comment
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Actually, Sweet Pea is much, much more likely to make that exact mistake. He was quite prone to fighting a brawling type of fight and he was lucky he was always better than the guys he did it against, but he did fall into that trap very often. He was a much better offensive fighter than many give him credit for but still did it much more than Leonard ever did.
Whitaker was easily riled and also very willing to stand in and trade. Many of his fights were fantastic brawling affairs. One of the best would have to be his great fight against R. Mayweather. Crazy fight! Very exciting. But, when he didn't like the guy he was fighting you could bet that he would stand in and try to knock him out at some point, if not throughout the whole fight.Comment
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To be honest I haven't seen enough of prime Duran, I got a vhs (old school) sort of compilation of him a while ago in this rundown ass market but I never watched it and its buried somewhere in the cupboard, I do recall his fights with DeJesus from ESPN classics or something, and I think I saw his whole fight with Buchanan. Whitaker I'm very familar with. It's tough to say not having seen a whole lot of Duran from that period, but I think it'd be a close fight, Whitaker would probably win just due to superior defence and quicker handsComment
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Duran would eventually get him especially in 15roundsComment
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Whitaker could certainly frustrate him. He also liked to clown around in general, unlike Leonard who used it as a strategy. I see Duran getting enraged and probably losing a decision. Duran has the best resume ever at LW but people make him out to be invincible.Comment
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LW Duran videos:
Duran - DeJesus III
Duran - DeJesus II
Duran - Thompson
Duran - Huertas
Duran - Fernandez
Duran - Lampkin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67XFMm1NM_Q
Duran - Buchanan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAvYvg7lWQs
18 year old Duran - Marcel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycPMzr3_Jo
Duran - KobayashiLast edited by TheGreatA; 10-09-2008, 05:20 AM.Comment
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It's not even clear who has the better defense. I'd say they're about even in that regard.Comment
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Actually on ESPN Pernell Whitaker said he would have never fought Duran at lightweight. He said Duran was a beast and the best. Pernell said he felt his best chance to beat Duran would have been at 147. I believe it was a Friday night fights segment with Pernell in the studio with Brian Kenny if somebody feels like looking it up.
But you all are still entitled to your opinion.Comment
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