Could Floyd have maintained the shoulder roll against Duran

[CubanGuyNYC]

Maaan. **** the Leonard fight. What about Benitez and Laing?

Different types of fighters of course. But they worked off the jab, landed their power shots and smothered him, they made him miss, they kept the fight in the center of the ring, clinched him and roughed him up when he tried to get inside..... they basically kept Duran off balance. They frustrated and outboxed this "invincible force" that you guys are talking about. They didn't run. They used upper body and head movement to evade a lot of his punches. I guess Laing ran during the first couple rounds but eventually settled in.

So now all of the sudden, you throw Floyd Mayweather into the picture, one of the greatest defensive fighters we've ever seen, incredibly gifted athlete, quick relfexes, quick hands, boxing IQ out of this world......Duran just walks through him?

The biggest problem with a lot of the responses in this thread is people assuming that Floyd will go to the ropes and let Duran tee off on him. That's nonsense. Floyd can create offense out of the shoulder roll stance too. What about when they are in the center of the ring? Floyd likes to work his jab, throw that looping left hook around the tight guard, slip in that sneaky right upper cut....he's got a heavy aresenal of punches he can throw out that stance.

And on top of that, he doesn't always fight out of that stance. He can square up and fight off his back foot, he drops his hands and counters at times. He loves to square up and shoot that lead right which Benitez staggered Druan a few times with. There's a lot more to Floyd than just being defensive fighter that sits in the shoulder roll stance.

I'm not saying that Floyd outclassses Duran, but anyone who things that Duran walks through Floyd like he's some kind of bum journeyman is out of their ****in mind. This would be a very good close fight.

Great post. I enjoyed reading it.

I was going to mention Benitez in an earlier post, but I didn't want to talk too much about welterweights. My focus was on Mayweather-Duran at 135. I agree that it would be a good fight at both weights, and I see Roberto winning at either, but more clearly at 135.

[SkillspayBills]

Of course. People tend to overrate EVERYTHING about older fighters. It's not like Floyd hadn't been hit by hard punches before.

[Pacquiao'd]

he came in over the limit and was fined he was to make 144 CW and came in 146...they allowed him to stay a 146 and JMM at 142lbs. Although Floyd was fined! He came in over 150 lbs on the unofficial scales on fight night!! Some experts believe it was higher! being Floyd refused to let HBO weigh him on fight night! So Floyd weighed way more than Manny did doofus!

prove it, fool

[LeG00N]

[-PBP-]

Great post. I enjoyed reading it.

I was going to mention Benitez in an earlier post, but I didn't want to talk too much about welterweights. My focus was on Mayweather-Duran at 135. I agree that it would be a good fight at both weights, and I see Roberto winning at either, but more clearly at 135.

Yeah, there is a big disconnect in the thread question to begin with. The thing is, Floyd at 130-135 used his feet and worked of his jab a lot more and didn't stand in the pocket nearly as much as he does now. If you look at his fights, he didn't fight out of the shoulder roll stance nearly as much.

The thread question seems to be referring to prime Duran (135) versus current Floyd (147-154) who is a welterweight and can fight at junior middleweight. Current Floyd stands in the pocket, fights out of that stance and relies on upper body and head movement more so than his legs.

Your looking at two completely different fights at 135 and at 147.

I think your looking at 2 close fights, and I believe if I were to rank the 5 fighters in the history of the sport that would give Floyd the most problems, Duran would be one of them. But I favor Floyd's quickness and skill level over Duran at both weights; 135 being the closer fight.

[PunchesNbuncheS]

It would have helped him not get ko'd, but i just don't see Floyd being able to do anything that would have kept Duran off of him. I just saw the Duran vs Leonard 1 fight yesterday and Duran was just relentless, he was mean, he was just nasty. The way he was putting that constant pressure on Leonard and not just that but the mental pressure of being walked down and constantly stalked plus those wicked body shots that were coming from all angles. I just see Duran really beating Floyd up, not stopping him because Floyd aint no walk in the park for anyone and I'm sure Duran would eat alot of crisp punches but I see Duran's punches bothering Floyd alot more than Floyd's punches bothering Duran.

Duran by unanimous decision in my opinion.

[PAC-BOY]

prove it, fool

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/floyd-mayweather-fight-juan-manuel-marquez-again-200400267--box.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/19/sports/sp-mayweather-marquez19

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009...z-weigh--blog/

just to name a few....OMFG....:AOR:if i were you id never show up on this site again. You have got to be the biggest dope ive ever came across. "prove it fool"...:AOR: Just... WOW!

[Mato o Muero]

Duran would have absolutely destroyed Floyd with his pressure. The shoulder roll would have been rendered useless.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Yeah, there is a big disconnect in the thread question to begin with. The thing is, Floyd at 130-135 used his feet and worked of his jab a lot more and didn't stand in the pocket nearly as much as he does now. If you look at his fights, he didn't fight out of the shoulder roll stance nearly as much.

The thread question seems to be referring to prime Duran (135) versus current Floyd (147-154) who is a welterweight and can fight at junior middleweight. Current Floyd stands in the pocket, fights out of that stance and relies on upper body and head movement more so than his legs.

Your looking at two completely different fights at 135 and at 147.

I think your looking at 2 close fights, and I believe if I were to rank the 5 fighters in the history of the sport that would give Floyd the most problems, Duran would be one of them. But I favor Floyd's quickness and skill level over Duran at both weights; 135 being the closer fight.

Again, well said. I agree with your assessments and breakdowns, except with the ultimate outcomes. You make a great case, though. Maybe it all comes down to a sort of bias. Duran was always my favorite. I recognize that 135 was a better weight for Floyd, but Roberto was even better (at least, historically). At 147, Mayweather is past his best. Although Duran was, too, I could see him being effective versus a less-mobile Floyd.

[Sandro17]

Floyd is great enough to maintain the shoulder roll against just about every fighter that has ever been at 147 including Duran. The question is, could he have won with it? The answer is no. Prime Duran would have won against Floyd but probably would not have KO'd him.