was Roberto Duran really that great?

[joeboxer]

this thread is a joke right? was duran really great? dude he is like top 5 pound for pound ever

Not a joke. Just a thread from Miketyson dumb****, oops I mean Jr.

[Sister Sledge]

prime Pryor and Duran may have been unbeatable...trust me dude Duran deserves all his respect that he has "gained"

Duran WAS beaten in his prime by Esteban DeJesus. He was very dirty. He didn't have one-punch kayo power, but he was relentless. His style was hard to beat, but he was frustrated against slick boxers. He constantly fouled Ken Buchanen when they fought. He was great, but I think a guy like Sweet Pea or Benny Leonard could have beaten him.

[czars_salad]

duran definitely deserves to be at the ranked among the greats. of the fab 4 (duran, hearns, leonard, hagler) duran is probably the least skillful, but his determination and courage is just amazing. keeps on coming

[Yogi]

Roberto Duran was obviously a great fighter and one of the greatest lightweights of all-time, if not the greatest. But still, I'd be pretty confident in saying that the great Ike Williams would've beaten him at lightweight, had they fought during the same era.

[Yogi]

He didn't have one-punch kayo power

After getting knocked out by a single left hook from Duran in the 14th round of their title fight, I'm sure Ray Lampkin would've had a different opinion than you on that.

[cmason]

the question was asked by a kid who obviously was too young to remember duran in his prime, not his fault. duran at lightweight was an all time great, only benny leonard and pernell whitiker could have lived with him. yes he did lose to de jesus in a non title fight but beat him twice when the belts were at stake. marvin hagler, who beat him on points over 15 rounds in 1983, said he was the best fighter he faced. praise indeed from a man not used to handing out complements.

[J !]

the question was asked by a kid who obviously was too young to remember duran in his prime, not his fault. duran at lightweight was an all time great, only benny leonard and pernell whitiker could have lived with him. yes he did lose to de jesus in a non title fight but beat him twice when the belts were at stake. marvin hagler, who beat him on points over 15 rounds in 1983, said he was the best fighter he faced. praise indeed from a man not used to handing out complements.

FINALLY SANITY RESTORED.
cant belive people are comparing mosely and duran Shane wouldnt have lasted 5 rounds.

[chase]

that night duran beat leonard, duran was unbeatable, duran said sugar man puched like a girl, mind you hagler said the same that duran that night would of beat any light weight up to any middle weight EVER, duran only had one weakness, and that was which duran you got into the ring with.
like i said befor he boxed in 5 differnt decades, that alone is amazing, and if he was american, no one would doubt his greatness and i cant belive some say shane mosley is in the same class

[DR. FREECLOUD]

roberto duran faught 70 fights in his first 11 years with only 1 loss to Esteban De Jesus who he came back and defeated twice in that same timespan. he held the lightweight title for 7 of those first 11 years. he relinquished the title after having it nearly 8 years straight. he didn't lose it in a fight...he was on his way up to the welterweights where he won the title from sugar ray leonard. at this point he was 29 years old and had 73 fights behind him. that part of his career would be his best. he went on to fight 47 more fights before his careers end. losing 15 of those fights in weight classes well above his natural weight to some world class fighters that are recognized as greats today.(Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benitez, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Vinny Pazienza, Hector Camacho) with a total of 120 fights 104 wins and by 69 ko. the math is easy, he lost 16 fights. his titles include 4 weight divisions including NBA Super Middleweight Title, WBC Middleweight Champion, WBA Junior Middleweight Champion, WBC Welterweight Champion, WBC Lightweight Champion, and the WBA Lightweight Champion. one can easily see that duran was a totally dominating force in the lightweight division and was able to have some success moving up. he was an animal in the ring that learned to hone his defensive skills and become a boxer puncher. my personal opinion is that roberto duran earned all the props he has been given as one of boxings p4p greats. he is one of only four to hold world titles at four different weights: lightweight (1972–1979), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983), and middleweight (1989–1990).

btw....sugar shane has been fighting for 11 years and has only 44 fights with 4 losses. he held the lightweight title for two years, and held the welterweight title for a year and a half, the middle weight title for 6 months. 3 titles for a total of 4 years

[Panamaniac]

Was Roberto Durán really THAT great?

Judge for yourself:

• The word "legend" often appears in the same sentence with the name "Roberto Duran."
• He had one of the longest careers (31 years) in sports history, arguably the longest in boxing.
• Was 75 & 1 (56 KO's) at age 29 when he fought Leonard the first time.
• Went on to capture his 3rd. and 4th. world titles way past his prime against bigger men.
• Other than Muhammad Ali, is the only fighter of the modern era to be rated within the top 10 p4p ATG.
• He is consistently rated amongst the top 10 greatest fighters of all time, with a 5th. place avarage rank (e. g. Robinson, Armstrong, Louis, Ali, Durán).

Sources: http://boxing.about.com/od/history/a/ring_80_best.htm

http://boxing.about.com/od/history/l/aa123099a.htm

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/greatest/featureVideo?page=greatest150

http://www.koboxing.co.uk/vote7.php?lid=&sid=