was Roberto Duran really that great?

[hemichromis]

Hell yeah SRR is overrated to an extent. People believe is level of talent can never be achieved but the man is HUMAN and othe HUMANS will arrive on the scene that can do some of the things he has done.

i agree! alot of so called 'boxing experts' suggest that he is the only fighter to be considered for p4p honours and that others such as hagler jones etc are far beneath him.
SRR certainly has a good case for p4p king but IMO not much more than hagler duran and jones.

[hemichromis]

i think u are right to a degree i hate all this crap the old fighters are the best Muhammed Ali was a great Heavyweight, he had did'nt have a punch and he struggled with Joe Frazier because of his style ,IMO Mike Tyson would have beaten Muhammed Ali he was a lot more illusive than Frazier & punched harder and faster than Frazier in his prime could take a punch had good stamina

tyson and frazier were very different fighters. the reason frazier hurt ali was his stamina and spirit. frazier kept coming foward and throwing punches. he was also very decptive.

tyson would probably win the first few rounds against ali. ali dancing around with tyson making lunging attacks, some succesful some less so. ali would be delivering counter punches everytime tyson made a mistake.

after 3 rounds or so tyson would slow down. ali would pepper him as he came in thn he would hold. frazier was still effective this close, tyson wasnt!

ali would frustrate tyson very easily i can see ali by late ko or ud

[Panamaniac]

Duran has a bad habit of not preparing properly for his fights. Especially for his 1st rematch with Ray and his fight with Hearns.

As much as he loved to fight, he prefered eating to training, often ballooning in excess of 200 pounds between fights. Given his natural talent, it's almost scary to imagine how much better he would've been if he were more disciplined. Instead of Sugar Ray Robinson, he would've been the universally accepted greatest p4p of all time.

Duran was great. A HOF.

But not because he did this and that.

It's because the odds were always stacked high against him and although he mostly got beat, one has to admire his courage.

He is great.

I think you meant to say "even when he got beat" one had to admire his courage. I don't think you would be extolling the virtues of a fighter who "mostly got beat."

[Brandish]

HA HA HA!!!!!!
you were joking right?

duran p4p was one of the best ever. at lightweight he was an unstoppable force even at heavier weights his will to win carried him through alot of difficult fights.

floyd on the other hand is largely untested. he may do well but right now we doont know!

how many divisions did duran dominate, how many ring titles did he win and defend

[SnoopySmurf]

Duran, when focused, had a pretty slick defense. He can slip a lot of punches most fighters couldn't. Even when he was over the hill and fighting a younr Iran Barkley, he was able to keep Barkley's power punches whizzing over his head.

[Panamaniac]

how many divisions did duran dominate, how many ring titles did he win and defend

Even though the tone of your question is transparently rhetorical, I'll answer it anyway: He dominated the Lightweight division in his prime and won a total of four titles, three past his prime.

Any more questions?

[Jim Jeffries]

how many divisions did duran dominate, how many ring titles did he win and defend

Duran was easily among the greatest lightweights of all time. He achieved a peak record of 72-1 that included winning the lightweight and welterweight crowns. He successfully defended the lightweight title 12 times, 11 by kayo. Duran was a strong, swarming type fighter who was so much more than just a swarmer. He had outstanding defense, slipping punches and countering with the best of them. He was really only knocked out one time in over 100 fights against Thomas Hearns at Jr. Middleweight. Duran became the only lightweight champion to win the middleweight title when he defeated the much bigger and stronger Iran Barkley

[landmine950]

Yes!

Most people think of duran as the hands of stone, the macho mexican, moving forward taking punishment like the stereotypical mexican small fighter.
His persona lead people to believe that and he had a good ko record, BUT!
IN FACT duran was the greatest DEFENSIVE fighter of all time and the originator and perfector of the slipping and counter punching styles used my PBF and Bernard today. At lighter weights duran had pop and could counterpunch his way to KO's against Hearns? No.
Watch a great fight, Duran vs Iran barkley

1989-02-24 : Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ, USA : Roberto Duran beat Iran Barkley by SD in round 12 of 12
WBC Middleweight Title
Referee: Joe Cortez
Judges Scoring: Tom Kaczmarek 116-112 (Duran), Dave Brown 116-113 (Barkley), Giuseppe Ferrari 118-112 (Duran)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barkley was down in the 11th round.
Fight was named Ring Magazine Fight of the Year.

I remember people thinking that Barkley would really hurt him..like KILL him..
Don't forget Roberto started fighting at 140! and didn't go to 150+ till after 30 fights
He fought Hearns at lt middle and hey! Tommy was no slouch! Duran got tagged and then lay on the ropes egging Tommy to hit him! not the best game plan!

I loved roberto!

[wpink1]

Duran was a great defensive fighter, but it is a stretch to compare him defensivly with a Willie Pepp. Dominated the Lightweight division like no other. However I do challenge all to review his resume on Box Rec. There are a lot ..a awful lot of Bums on that resume.

Also, as was mentioned in this thread. Every time Duran lost his fans create a list of excuses.

I would simly say, that at lightweight Duran pound per pound was one of the top 10 fighters ever. When he moved up he could not dominate the Leonards, hearns, Benitez's, Hagler's. He beat Ray farily, but we all know and those who chose not to accept this fact simply dont want to accept the truth, but we all know that the victory was gained by Leonard deciding to not box him...However, Duran still moved up from Lightweight and beat Ray at Welter and is the only person during Ray;s peak years to beat him. Duran also moved up and beat other good fighters in Moore and Barkley.

I have been on many boards debating Duran's greatness, but I have always insisted he is a top 10..Which is astounding. So I am not saying Duran was not great, What I am saying is it is a disservice to great fighters who do not make excuses, that evertime duran lost...there most have been some other reason other than he met a style or a person who that specific day, had durans number.

[Panamaniac]

Duran was a great defensive fighter, but it is a stretch to compare him defensivly with a Willie Pepp. Dominated the Lightweight division like no other. However I do challenge all to review his resume on Box Rec. There are a lot ..a awful lot of Bums on that resume.

This is one of the lamest arguments used to discredit the achievements of a fighter. There are proportionately far more "bums" in boxing than elite fighters. Consequently, it is impossible for any fighter to have a majority of elite fighters on his resumé, let alone victories over them.