Roberto Durán: Sergio Martinez wouldn't have a chance in my era

[Carpe Diem]

Martinez is a late bloomer. He probably wouldn't have been great when the fab four were in their prime years, but he would still be a good fighter.

[ElMeroChingon]

Have you seen any Argentine boxers in recent times?

-Yes, I've seen Maravilla Martínez. He came to visit me in Panamá. He boxes well, but he has to improve his defense. He drops his hands and he only has a single script. And it has become clear he doesn't have a chin anymore. In my era, he wouldn't have a chance against the best. And I don't think today he would be able to beat Floyd Mayweather.

http://www.ole.com.ar/boxeo/titulo_0_986901364.html,

duran speaks the truth, hate all you want.

[Godsfly]

Exactly, the same Barkley that knocked Thomas Hearns out 6 months before losing to Duran.

apart from weight barkley wasn't much of a win for duran..........it was only a good win because of the weight. it was impressive for a lightweight to go all the way up to middleweight & take out a good fighter...........

barkley was a hot & cold fighter for most of his career though...one day he was knocking out world champions the next day he was struggling with taxi drivers.

hot & cold............

[marvelousmatt]

Is Duran senile? It seems like every other week he's talking crap about someone (albeit, sometimes warranted). It just kinda feels like he expresses his disdain for modern boxing whenever he's given the avenue.

Agree on Duran.



That's just crap from Duran. Great boxers are great boxers in any era. Sergio is a great fighter and would have beat Duran at MW. Duran was awesome at LW and WW but he was too small at MW. Hagler and Hearns destroyed him. Sergio would play with Duran at MW then KTFO him. Next week he'll say that Chavez Sr was a poor body puncher and Gatti was boring.

[bojangles1987]

Agree on Duran.



That's just crap from Duran. Great boxers are great boxers in any era. Sergio is a great fighter and would have beat Duran at MW. Duran was awesome at LW and WW but he was too small at MW. Hagler and Hearns destroyed him. Sergio would play with Duran at MW then KTFO him. Next week he'll say that Chavez Sr was a poor body puncher and Gatti was boring.

Hagler didn't destroy Duran, and I guarantee Martinez would not stop him. Duran could beat Martinez.

[boliodogs]

Older retired fighters almost always say the best fighters of their era were much better than the best fighters of the current era. My guess is Duran would also say GGG would not be a champion in his era either. I think a prime Martinez might have been a hard fight for Duran. I have to agree with Duran when it comes to Hagler. A prime Hagler would have no problem KOing a prime Martinez and a prime Hearns would also KO a prime Martinez. That's just my opinion and maybe Martinez would do better than I think he would. No fighter can beat the ghosts of the past.

[HarvardBlue]

I have my own issues with Martinez, but he also has a lot of fans that love his style of boxing. I happen to think he gets too much credit for the level of opposition he faced. With that being said, I don't get the thinking that boxers in a certain era was better or tougher than any other era. As far as I know there's hasn't been many revolutionary advances in boxing in a while. Boxers still hit each other with padded gloves and that's about it. I'm sure if Martinez punched Duran or any other fighter from his era the punch would hurt just as much today as it would back then. People like to be nostalgic about the good old days but the good old days are just that... Let Martinez or any other fighter of today enjoy this era. I'm sure they'll probably say the same thing about the next generation but it won't be true like it isn't when Duran says it.

[SHO_RULEZ]

Martinez drops his hands by design! Its showboating machismo ! He drops his hands and sticks his chin out like, try to hit me! I'd often wonder when he'd eventually pay for attempting this, and it was the 12th round of the Junior fight !

[FrankieBruno]

roberto duran was on steroids, Sergio would have been fine if he was roiding like the rest of them

[marvelousmatt]

Hagler didn't destroy Duran, and I guarantee Martinez would not stop him. Duran could beat Martinez.

My goal is not to trash roberto Duran as he is an ATG WARRIOR and I loved watching him fight.

He was unreal at LW and WW. The fisrt time I saw him was the replay almost 9 years later of the Ken Buchanon fight.

His style was better vs ****ers than movers who can punch. Duran was like what 7-3 at MW. IMO, Sergio wins that fight by late KO or easy UD. It's a bad style fight for Duran.