Prime Duran vs Prime Floyd who wins?

[B Phontain]

No way at any weight Duran beats Floyd in the middle of the ring. Ain't happening. Too much movement. Too accurate. I would even fancy a 140 Floyd stops him. That was his prime to me.

[champion4ever]

We are talking about a great offensive fighter vs a great defensive fighter. The last time we saw Duran in the ring vs a great defensive fighter was against Wilfredo Benitez and we all knew what happened in that bout. He got taken to the wood shed and was badly spanked.

Floyd on the other hand, has fought a many great offensive fighters as well as sluggers and defeated them all with ease. May with that Shoulder Roll/Philly shell defense of his, coupled with his lower body movement was able to neutralize most of his opponent's firepower with this skill.

If Duran by being an inch shorter and perhaps even the smaller man; Can't somehow able to land a jab on Floyd, then he won't able to land sh it on him.

May was just that defensive and fundamentally sound. He would slip, block and pull counter all of Duran's incoming fire power en route to a unanimous decision.

[RussB23]

It's a competitive fight but don't let nostalgia sway you, Floyd was/is the greater fighter and would've won. You're tripping if you think DeJesus, Leonard and Benitez could all outbox Duran but the GOAT defensive fighter couldn't. You saw how much Leonard's IQ, mind-games and antics took Duran out of his element, Floyd would've took it up another notch and would've been even harder to hit. People always back the old timers in these match-ups because of nostalgia and because they don't like Floyd. However if you actually know the sport and don't let your personal preferences get in the way you should be able to admit he's just better. At 135 Duran makes it close, but Leonard only lost to him because he fought completely the wrong fight, and it was still extremely close. Floyd would be smart and would frustrate the hell out of him. If you saw the Benitez fight, it would be very similar to that. LOL at haters trying to say it would be easy for Duran.

I think duran simply wasnt as good as he was the second time he faced leonard. He wasnt as motivated and got really out of shape before the second fight.

[JK1700]

I think duran simply wasnt as good as he was the second time he faced leonard. He wasnt as motivated and got really out of shape before the second fight.

I read that in his book that he partied for a long time after the first fight and didn't get himself in the best of shape. However I also think based off how close the first fight still was even though he won, that if Ray just fought smarter he never would've lost. So even if Duran was in top shape for the rematch, I think Leonard would've beaten him if he was just smarter. I mean, Duran looked to be in very good shape against Benitez and definitely Hagler and those fights were totally one-sided and Floyd was more skilled than both of them. Just based off these fights I couldn't see him beating Floyd. Although I will admit that a 135 Duran or the one that fought Ray the first time would give him a rough night and a close fight.