A (perhaps) slightly weight drained Duran stays at 135 for one more fight after the De Jesus rubber to fight Arguello fresh off the first Escalera win, that same month. Fight happens May 1978, 10 weeks later. What happens?
Arguello had great accuracy and power behind his counter punches plus a considerable reach advantage. All great weapons to overcome an aggressive fighter
It'd be a great, competitive fight but the bottom line is that Duran wins this fight from range with his lateral movement and he wins this fight inside too. What's more he has the foot speed advantage to decide which of those options he prefers. Duran's arse probably touches canvas along the way & he'd have some hairy moments beyond that, but eventually he'd come out on top.
Duran gets inside and forces Arguello to fight his fight and he would break him dow with bodyshots before either stopping him late, or winning a clear cut UD. I think he stops him in all honesty with those brutal bodyshots.
Arguello would need a lot more SPEED to win this... thats the biggest difference... Duran had cat reflexes... you have to be faster than Alexis was if you are going to fight his style against Duran... I absolutely love Arguello, and he was great so he'd compete, but I too can not envision a scenario where he can beat Duran Duran the lightweight, for my money, deserves every bit of his rep
Duran wins easier than Pryor does. He'd set the pace like Pryor did, make Arguello fight faster than he wanted, just like Pryor did, but he'd do so with better defense, a better inside game, better durability and more experience. Imagine Olivares wuithout a significant size disadvantage? In which his pu ches accumulate and it's not a waiting game for Arguello, but rather a struggle for survival. This is a struggle Arguello would've lost.
I cant stand the revisionist bullshit that has diseased this forum... Roberto Duran is simply one of the greatest lightweights to ever live... he was absurdly dominant, he had a fully stocked arsenal, great defensive skills and reflexes, he was a hungry fighter, full of desire and rage... watch the returns with DeJesus, watch him torture Ray Lampkin, watch him cutoff the ring with consumate ease against the quick, skillful Ken Buchanan, the guy had no weaknesses... The idea that picking Duran over Arguello is somehow illogical or a stretch is nonsensical... if this fight had happened, Duran would have been a big favorite, thats not accidental, he was ACTUALLY THAT GOOD, its not hyperbole, it is reality... Esteban DeJesus was a great lightweight, and he managed to get the better of Duran in a 10 round non-title fight... in the returns, he managed a few decent moments but was largely pummeled... that is as close as anyone got to beating Roberto Duran, he hammered every guy in front of him... you can say until you are blue in the face that "duran is overrated in MMs, he wasnt that good, blahblahblah" but the reality is that you are wrong, he was every bit as great as the legend states... if a fighter like Roberto Duran (in his lightweight days) can be called into question and torn down, then there are no great fighters... some guys are beyond reproach, their dominance and greatness should not even be questioned... Whitaker, Ali, Leonard, Monzon, Robinson, the rarest of the rare... Duran is unquestionably such a guy and it is ridiculous to see that every matchup he is put in is greeted by imbecillic remarks about not being "allowed to pick against him" ... theres a reason why most sensible people would pick but a handful of lightweights to have a chance against him-- he was REALLY REALLY great Im not even really a big Duran fan, but if he's not an all timer, NOBODY is
I was just trying to bug Xplosive! :: Oh and to answer your question: Whitaker and Mayweather (BETTER, not greater)
such as? Whitaker is about it for me I figure the rest of the greatest lightweights are Ike Williams, Carlos Ortiz, Joe Brown, Henry Armstrong (even though he was only there for a minute) , Chavez (same as Armstrong) , Benny Leonard, Montgomery, Beau Jack, DeJesus, Arguello, Mosley (if you ignore his horrendous comp), Mayweather (again, a very brief stay), Canzoneri, Ross the second tier after that would have very good fighters like Ambers, Castillo, Johnston, Rosario, Ramirez, Corrales, Camacho, Carter, etc. Outside of Mayweather, Whitaker, Armstrong and Ike, there isnt a guy there at his best I would ever pick to come close to beating Duran at his best... and out of those, the only one I would consistently pick to win is Whitaker... Mayweather would be competetive but I find it hard to believe that a guy who had all he could handle with Castillo's pressure is going to consitently emerge victorious against a guy with far more talent, quickness and skill like Duran... Armstrong could maybe win with volume, but since when is trying to brawl with Duran a good strategy? Williams could stun him early, but his best shot was his right hand, and the punch Duran had more trouble with at lightweight was a counter left hook, not right hands... I think Ike would get worn out and dominated late outside of Whitaker, I've never heard anyone give a comprehensive strategical reason based on real fight evidence of how any of those guys would be able to beat Duran
Mayweather had all he could handle from Castillo, there is no way he can keep away from Duran for 12 rounds,a nd he wouldn't land anywhere near enough punches to discourage him
How many times have you heard a comprehensive, strategical breakdown on how Duran would beat those guys? There isn't one...it's just Duran is the best LW, & that is that. Greatness is only partly determined by head-to-head match-ups, anyway. Besides, I don't have a problem with Duran as high as even #1 at LW, but when you see him in that spot on 90% of lists, you know familiarity is playing a huge role in his placing, given the depth of the division's history. Benny Leonard, for instance, couldn't hang with Roberto Duran, but Esteban DeJesus can? Speaking of DeJesus, it is just as valid to flip your Mayweather-Castillo results on their head & use Duran-DeJesus as a reason to vote for Mayweather, head-to-head, over Duran. The parallels are plenty worthy. 1. Duran lost to DeJesus first-up - Mayweather probably deserved to lose to Castillo first go-round. 2. Duran convincingly bested DeJesus in a rematch - Mayweather did likewise against Castillo. 3. Castillo had some stylistic similarities to Duran, but ultimately, Duran is much the better fighter - much like DeJesus to Mayweather.
I've never been high on non-title bouts carrying near the same weight as title fights, especially when they're over-the-weight.
Compubox has Floyd as both the most accurate and best defensive fighter it's ever recorded. Including Whitaker. Just read that yesterday and found it interesting. I think the scale of his douchery has led allot of us to underrate him.
Whitaker fought better opposition than Mayweather, & was more offensively-minded, allowing for more openings from the competition. Not saying Mayweather isn't on his level --- he is --- but the above factors, Compubox can't compute.
Sure, but considering Floyd lands more power punches as a proportion of his shots than anyone else too, the stats do stack up pretty impressively for him. He's prodigiously effective.
