Is Roberto Duran the best lightweight of all time?

[Shaolin Bushido]

Hell Duran might be the best lightweight right now, and I don't even know how old he is.

Yeah but unless the lightweight limit is over 200 lbs you're dead wrong.

[ophqui]

Duran was an amazingly talented boxer, but his discipline and dedication were poor. He used to go up 50lbs between fights from eating and not working out properly.

[Kid Achilles]

You can argue that Benny Leonard, Armstrong, and Joe Gans were just as good, if not better. Impossible to say for sure.

[chase]

roberto duran the best light weight of all time ?
EASY.. chavez was a great fighter but duran as a light weight was to strong, think of this a light weight fighting the best middle weight of all time in hagler will never be seen again. EVER

[morancito]

Only Armstrong and Benny Leonard could make a case for themselves, but I still think Duran is the best lightweight to ever step on a ring.

p4p I'd rank Armstrong higher, though.

[Yogi]

Only Armstrong and Benny Leonard could make a case for themselves

Are you sure about that?

If so, what makes Duran so much better than the likes of Gans, Williams, Canzoneri, and Ortiz (to name a few), where they shouldn't even be given consideration for that top spot?

[+= El Jefe=+]

Any arguments against this?

No Mas!!!!

[Kid Achilles]

This is a rediculous thing to try to prove. And now someone claims that Hagler is the best middleweight ever? Says who? There were a lot of great middleweights, the division was probably the strongest one of them all. If Hagler (or any of them) was the best it was only by the smallest of margins.

Same with Duran. There were too many guys at lightweight who were AWESOME complete fighters. Duran also quit in the middle of a fight where he was being outboxed. I do not recall any of the other great lightweights doing this. And don't bring up that Duran was passed his prime or fighting at a higher than natural weightclass for him because heart does not fade with age. The Duran that quit versus Leonard was mentally the same as the lightweight who won the title from Ken Buchanan.

[Floydmayweather]

You were not in the ring so its impossible to say what he was feeling in that fight. Duran is the best lightweight ever and his record and domiance of the fighters he faced proves it.

[The Phantom Menace]

Absolutely, Duran was the greatest lightweight of all time. His 'No Mas' fight against Leonard had nothing to do with his lightweight career because that fight with Leonard was at welterweight.