Roberto Duran vs. Manny Pacquiao@135

[Slotff]

At his very best at 135, Duran knocks out every lightweight who has ever lived and most likely will ever live. Duran early/mid round KO after building a nice lead.

[onetwopunch]

I was just watching Duran vs Esteban De Jesus on youtube..I think both of these guys would of beat Pacman.

[BennyST]

If Pac gave him a Sugar Ray Leonard style lesson then yes, however, the more likely scenario is that Pac's natural fighting instinct came into play and he starts to trade and Duran takes him out.

I'm not really sure though, i can't judge how it would pan out with Pac only having fought 1 fight at Lightweight.

Pac can't fight like Leonard even if he wanted to. He doesn't have the same type of combinations, speed, footwork or footspeed, and most importantly he doesn't have a jab or anything that could keep Duran from getting in and beating him up.

Most people don't realise how good a counter puncher Duran was. He would slip the punches, counter punch to get inside and then band away at the body and head, slowly destroying his opponents. Pac just doesn't have the style to give Duran any problems.

He is also the same size as Duran and at peak, no one who is the same size as him wins, especially a fighter that comes forward and likes to fight.

Duran UD. It would be a great fight though. Seriously though, anyone who picks Pac over a prime lightweight Duran doesn't know ****e.

Freddie Roach was asked the same question and he said "Though I would love to pick Manny, I can't without lying. Duran was just too good"

[strugler]

At his very best at 135, Duran knocks out every lightweight who has ever lived and most likely will ever live. Duran early/mid round KO after building a nice lead.

duran was a beast....i dont think he kos chavez, sweet pea, ..............shane would be ko though imo.............

[BennyST]

what truth, your opinion? dont make me laff lolz




i have seen his big fights... i think manny outboxes and makes him quit





your sig is rockin btw :wank:

Outboxes Duran?

Man, be serious. Pac could never outbox Duran. He doesn't have anything that would seriously trouble him. At lightweight Duran's timing, speed, combination punching, counter punching and especially his defense would blow apart anything Pac would try.

Leonard was the only guy who could outbox Duran and that's because Leonard had a four inch height and an eight inch reach advantage and his jab was about ten times more effective than any jab Pac has ever thrown. Besides that, Duran was simply a much better boxer than Pac. He had a more educated jab, angles, combinations, defense, counter punching on offense or defense.

Duran would slip Pac's left without much trouble and his right hand wouldn't be enough to do anything either. If Buchanan, who is a better boxer with a better jab than Pac could ever have couldn't outbox him, there is no way Pac is doing it. Besides that though, Pac just doesn't fight that way. He is really a purely offensive fighter and Duran just doesn't lose that fight.

Pac is seriously great but there are a few styles that he just doesn't win against and Duran's style would tear Pac apart. But, to think Pac would outbox him is laughable. He isn't nearly a good enough boxer to beat a 135 Duran. He doesn't have anything that could keep Duran from getting in and Pac doesn't fight well at all going backward for an entire fight. He can't fight going backward and although few realise it, Duran was as good at countering as a pure counter puncher like Marquez. Bad fight for him.

[Warbeast]

ill pass on this one... though i think anything can happen.

[BennyST]

you talk as if roberto duran is a god compared to pac. we talkin about two atgs that were great in the same division. wait till his career is over. manny did better than duran when moving up in weight.

Actually, he absolutely didn't. Duran started at 118 and moved up to 147 where his prime ended. Everything after that was just icing on his career. Pac knocked out twice, and beaten clearly once by Morales. Duran lost twice in 80 or so fights, once early on to De Jesus in a very sluggish ten roound decision who he came back to starch twice, while De Jesus was still in his prime years both times, and after a decade long run at lightweight then moved up beating two more HOF'ers, among them a top three ATG WW, and a top ten/twenty P4P ATG who was much bigger and much younger, before losing in the rematch which was the end of his prime.

Pac is the same size as Duran, and I can guarantee you won't see Pac moving up to beat any 154, or 160 pound champion well after his prime has ended.

Like you said though, wait a bit longer to see how Manny handles the much higher weights well after his prime is finished.

Past thirty, well past his best weight, fighting many ATG's and the greatest fighters that those weights have ever seen, who also are twice the size is not really comparable to moving up and fighting a shot Oscar and a Cotto and Hatton who are the same size and not really ATG material. Great wins but they don't mean Pac has moved up better or beat Duran in a head to head fight. I think you just need to watch their prime fights to see who would win, and I don't think it's too difficult to see who would and why.

As I said earlier Pac is great and there are a lot of fighters he could beat but there are also some that he just couldn't and this is one of them. He would get hit a lot, he would get hit to the body harder and more than ever before, he would struggle to land any flush shots and he would also get backed up and he can't fight well backing up. Because Pac is an offensive fighter and doesn't like backing up it would turn into an inside fight and Pac doesn't fight that well on the inside whereas Duran would be slipping his shots inside, breaking him down to the body, counter punching him quite a lot and honestly, Pac would probably end up struggling badly.

[JAB5239]

Outboxes Duran?

Man, be serious. Pac could never outbox Duran. He doesn't have anything that would seriously trouble him. At lightweight Duran's timing, speed, combination punching, counter punching and especially his defense would blow apart anything Pac would try.

Leonard was the only guy who could outbox Duran and that's because Leonard had a four inch height and an eight inch reach advantage and his jab was about ten times more effective than any jab Pac has ever thrown. Besides that, Duran was simply a much better boxer than Pac. He had a more educated jab, angles, combinations, defense, counter punching on offense or defense.

Duran would slip Pac's left without much trouble and his right hand wouldn't be enough to do anything either. If Buchanan, who is a better boxer with a better jab than Pac could ever have couldn't outbox him, there is no way Pac is doing it. Besides that though, Pac just doesn't fight that way. He is really a purely offensive fighter and Duran just doesn't lose that fight.

Pac is seriously great but there are a few styles that he just doesn't win against and Duran's style would tear Pac apart. But, to think Pac would outbox him is laughable. He isn't nearly a good enough boxer to beat a 135 Duran. He doesn't have anything that could keep Duran from getting in and Pac doesn't fight well at all going backward for an entire fight. He can't fight going backward and although few realise it, Duran was as good at countering as a pure counter puncher like Marquez. Bad fight for him.

Benny, you're one of the most intelligent and astute fans on this site. Great post as always!

[BennyST]

People tend to glorify the champions of yesteryear and say that they would demolish all the champions of today because back then everything was more difficult. I think that Manny Pac v. Duran would be a very good fight, but I can't say who would win prime for prime since I think Manny is still improving. The Manny of today would give Duran a fight, but someone will get knocked out before the 10th. They're both so very skilled ATG's that I can't guess who will be the victor. Duran certainly fought better opposition than Manny Pac did at 135 though.

Just out of curiosity, if you think that this fight doesn't go past 10, and the only guy Duran was ever stopped by was Hearns, quite possibly the hardest punch P4P in boxing history (his right hand that is), and that was well past his best weight and well past his prime years, with Hearns having about a six or more inch height advantage, over a ten inch reach advantage and being at his best weight and age, do you honestly think Pac would stop Duran? That is one outcome that would never materialise.

Only one guy ever went the distance with Duran in his title reign and Viruet was one of the toughest SOB's you'll ever see fight. He himself only got stopped once in his great career and that was in the very last fight of his career, way, way past his best against a young, unbeaten Edwin Rosario.

[BennyST]

Benny, you're one of the most intelligent and astute fans on this site. Great post as always!

Cheers JAB my good man!