wow. i have never seen duran/chavez discussed here before. what a novel matchup. i would have to go with duran. i think his dyamism on the inside would befuddle chavez who is used to dominating there.
Yeah, I think it's surprising that after ALLLLL these years we've never actually discussed this in MM. And I agree, Duran wins. More dynamic and athletic than Chavez, as well as considerably quicker hands. Also, a harder target to find. Those would be the differences. Obviously, Chavez has his moments - he was a great, great fighter at 135 and nobody's beating him easily. But I see Duran's quickness keeping him a step ahead of Chavez all night. Chavez was used to his body attack and stamina wearing guys out in the late rounds, but in Duran he's in with a guy who does all the things he does, only better.
yeah. against duran, i can actually envision chavez missing with some shots on the inside and getting countered.
It doesn't help that Julio was a slow starter although he may get involved in the action sooner than usual due to Duran's approach.
I say Chavez beats all the guys like Duran beat at 135lbs and never loses to DeJesus. I see this as a 50-50 fight. Y'all are too simplistic in this matchup acting as though Duran does everything Chavez does only better and with more speed. I don't think it's that simple. Chavez was deadly accurate and was an immovable object and he wasn't as easy to hit as people think. Look at the Taylor fight...Meldrick seemed to throw 1000 punches at him and at the end of teh fight Chavez looked fairly unmarked. he didn't get hit as much as people think.
I'd take Duran via 9-6 type score. Very close UD. Duran had the edge in hand speed and unpredictability. Chavez would meet him head up and wouldn't give an inch. But he falls just short.
Don't you EVER again confuse that hairy inconsistent performing, once quitting, once KTFO'd Panamanian motherfucker with THE Mayweather! Floyd don't have losses, y'all musta forgot. ;)
Indeed. One is a top 10 all time fighter, the other is not. My apologies for the insult, Manos De Piedra. As for this matchup, both Chavez and Duran were brilliant fighters. There isn't an OVERWHELMING gap in any category between the two. However, Duran has several CLEAR advantages over Chavez. Whereas any edge Chavez had over Duran is minimal. You ARE correct that Chavez had an underrated defense. But even in that respect, Duran has an edge over Chavez. As Double said, Duran was just the more dynamic of the two, the more versatile of the two. Chavez HAD to come forward to be effective. Whereas Duran transformed himself from a wild, slugging kid when he was 20-21 into a more refined counterpuncher who brilliantly integrated offense and defense by time he was in his mid-to-late 20s. The fact that he was just a lot quicker and more athletic than Chavez gives him a decided edge. Another problem for Chavez is physical strength. Chavez was accustomed to being stronger than his opponents. Duran was stronger physically, and that doesn't bode well for Chavez. Basically he's in-fighting with a guy who's stronger, slicker, has quicker hands, is a better counterpuncher, and who matches him for stamina. Just too much for Chavez to overcome here.
I'd pick Chavez. He was a straighter puncher, and I think it would make the difference in that fight.
