Who is higher on the ATG list: Floyd Mayweather (so far) or Roberto Duran?

[BennyST]

Yet Durans Record isn't tainted by quiting against Leonard.

Duran's record isn't tainted? Are you nuts!

Of course it is! It's one of the biggest stories in boxing history and had an huge effect on his entire career, how he was perceived then and now, and put him what would have been clear top five right up there at the top into around what is usually 7-15ish.

It does taint his record, but it also doesn't erase what he did do, and the fact that he has what is certainly among the very, very greatest wins in boxing history if not the single greatest win ever recorded.

No one else has ever done anything as good as that one win. Some come close, but few equal it. However his entire career was tainted, and it was seriously tainted then and still is now (hence you and most people bringing it up), it doesnt change that.

That doesn't even go into the rest of his record.

Floyd's brilliance lies in his consistency and his dedication to his craft, but he never did it against the greatest and that does hurt him a little bit when up against wins like Duran's vs Leonard. 20 years at the top will probably never be repeated in my opinion and Floyd is deserving of serious consideration for top ten when all will be said and done, but you can't get past him never equaling a win as great as what Duran did and that's what boxing comes down to. Who did you beat...We'll never know if Floyd could have done something like that or not. We do know Duran was able to and that's as good as it gets. But, what goes for Floyd (dedication, discipline etc) hurts Duran (he was a lazy bastard and stopped giving a **** apart from in a few fights in which he was not given any respect and what supposed to get his ass kicked).

[boxingsupreme87]

They outta remake a recent version of this poll..

[ironmt]

Duran's record isn't tainted? Are you nuts!

Of course it is! It's one of the biggest stories in boxing history and had an huge effect on his entire career, how he was perceived then and now, and put him what would have been clear top five right up there at the top into around what is usually 7-15ish.

It does taint his record, but it also doesn't erase what he did do, and the fact that he has what is certainly among the very, very greatest wins in boxing history if not the single greatest win ever recorded.

No one else has ever done anything as good as that one win. Some come close, but few equal it. However his entire career was tainted, and it was seriously tainted then and still is now (hence you and most people bringing it up), it doesnt change that.

That doesn't even go into the rest of his record.

Floyd's brilliance lies in his consistency and his dedication to his craft, but he never did it against the greatest and that does hurt him a little bit when up against wins like Duran's vs Leonard. 20 years at the top will probably never be repeated in my opinion and Floyd is deserving of serious consideration for top ten when all will be said and done, but you can't get past him never equaling a win as great as what Duran did and that's what boxing comes down to. Who did you beat...We'll never know if Floyd could have done something like that or not. We do know Duran was able to and that's as good as it gets. But, what goes for Floyd (dedication, discipline etc) hurts Duran (he was a lazy bastard and stopped giving a **** apart from in a few fights in which he was not given any respect and what supposed to get his ass kicked).

Excellent post, I have no argument with Floyd being ranked somewhere between 15-20 all time. I do not think he makes the top 10.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Duran is such an amazing fighter, I started going through his career again and I'm even more impressed with the skills he possessed. Also, Duran is obviously the greater fighter.

[Joe Beamish]

Goes up two weight classes to beat a PRIME Sugar Ray Leonard.

Duran by miles.

[Mick6]

Goes up two weight classes to beat a PRIME Sugar Ray Leonard.

Duran by miles.

I thought SRL won that first fight but I was a kid who idolized SRL and was and still am heavily biased. One of these days I'm going to actually re watch and score it.

[The Hammer]

Goes up two weight classes to beat a PRIME Sugar Ray Leonard.

Duran by miles.

Most definitely.

[mezoomozaa]

After almost 2 years, Duran is still the better and bigger boxing star, by a bigger margin than 2013

[mannyman]

Roberto Duran was a naturally smaller man than Floyd Mayweather, yet he became middleweight champion when he defeated Iran Barkley.

http://boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Fight:3261

Floyd Mayweather will never win a belt at middleweight because he will never take on an opponent slightly bigger than himself, like Sergio Martinez or Gennady Golovkin. However, Floyd has never had a problem fighting smaller men like Juan Manuel Marquez.

Duran never ducked anybody. His achievements are greater than Floyds. Instead of cherry-picking old faded fighters like Shane Mosley or flawed fighters coming off a loss like Zab Judah, instead of ducking prime lightweights, welterweights and middleweights, Duran was always willing to fight the best boxers in their prime.

Even fighters much bigger than himself like Iran Barkley!

Slightly bigger, really??? They are giants compared to him. Floyd fought in 5 yes 5 weight classes. Thats more than enough if you ask me.

Shane Mosley old and faded? Really? I'll repeat for the umpteenth time, Shane was coming of possibly the best performance of his career against Margatito AND he almost KO'd Floyd. Did you know that Floyd called out a prime LW Mosley on the come up? Though not.

Zab Judah is/was flawed but it was a legit fight fight and at one point Judah would have been considered a very dangerous fight. He gave Mayweather fits until Mayweather eventually figured him out.

You're a hater. At least build a decent argument. You may rate Duran higher, that's fine but don;t make out like every single fighter on Duran's (or any other fighter in history) resume is an absolute killer.

[DannyNL]

Floyd Mayweather for sure. More skill and Floyd never got outboxed, never got knocked out in 2 rounds like a can, and he sure as hell never quit in the middle of a championship fight because of a tummy ache.

Duran was a great champion who had a lot of classic fights, but let's be honest: who did he beat at LW besides DeJesus, Buchanan, and maybe a couple others?
He was clearly limited, he got completely outclassed numerous times by his peers.