I'm sorry, but you can never be the GOAT...

1 - Yes it does.
2 - No it's not.

 

Seriously though, Sly....you should know Im pro-Mayweather (see my threads), but Durán would be his worst nightmare, before and during the fight.
He beats Mayweather in every dept. except:
• defense
• speed

 

This is how I actually see it...all trolling aside..

I think it's a highly competitive fight. People point to Castillo and say shit like if Castillo could give Floyd so much trouble then Duran would have mauled him. In boxing it's never that simple. Corrales and Castillo were equivalent talents as obvious from their first fight yet Floyd completely manhandled Corrales. Hatton beat up Castillo and Floyd manhandled him also (not as easily but still...). Canelo is better than Castillo was (let's see Castillo go 24 rounds with GGG...not happening) and Floyd beat him easily too. So my point is..we can't automatically assume that Duran gets the better of Floyd just because of what happened in the castillo fight. We can't assume the reverse either...as Floyd is better than DeJesus and arguably better than Benitez. So what we are left with is a break down of styles and abilities.

Duran has a prodigious work-rate and much higher than Floyd's...no denying that. However, with Floyd this doesn't matter..because...just like Hopkins, Floyd is known to reduce the punch output of his opponents time and time again. Corrales threw 1000s of punches against Castillo..and against Mayweather was reduced to a one punch at a time mummy. Pacquiao's work-rate dropped off severely against him also as well as Cotto, Mosley and many others. I see no reason why Duran woul dbe any different because in the Leonard rematch his workrate was reduced significantly due to Leonard's movement and more defensive posture. Secondly Floyd's stamina matches Duran even though he doesn't throw as many punches...as like Duran, Floyd is just as strong at the end of the fight as he is in the beginning. Also Floyd's chin is solid so don't expect Duran to one punch KO him or even badly hurt him. Floyd is rangier and is even more elusive than Duran and faster. In fact Duran's only advantage is power and that almost doesn't matter because of Floyd's chin and elusiveness.

So it's competitive in that Duran will always be forcing the action but the fact is that he'll be hitting Floyd far less than in return..as his style plays right into Floyd's strengths and defensive tricks. Duran is elusive too and smart...but Floyd is smarter, more adaptable, uses his legs better and has an even less predictable attack. That's not to say that Duran is some mindless brawler...far from it...but people still don't seem to recognize just how good Floyd's ring intelligence was. Floyd was a nightmare to fight....he was thinking every second and his counters discouraged opponents from throwing.

 

Duran could definitely hurt Floyd. I wouldn’t say he KOs him. But hurt him? Yes he could. Especially to the body.

I could see Duran and Mayweather splitting fights in their prime.

 

I think Floyd might be favored at 154, I'll concede that much.

He is most certainly not beating Duran at 135. And he isnt winning at 147 against the Palomino and Leonard 1 versions.

 

I've never seen Floyd hurt to the body and he's fought some fearsome body punchers over the years: Castillo, Hatton, De La Hoya, Mosley, Cotto, Canelo.

Splitting fights in their prime, I can agree with that.

 

Duran is the 135lb GOAT and I agree with this assessment. However, that doesn't mean that he was unbeatable at that weight. Floyd has the style and the abilities to have inflicted a defeat simply because he'd slow the pace down and frustrate Duran with movement and counters. So I don't know why you can be so certain. As for Palomino and Montreal versions against 147lb Floyd...Leonard would have beaten Floyd IMO and Duran beat Leonard...but this doesn't automatically dictate that Duran beats Floyd; Duran-Leonard-Hearns triangle or Leonard-Benitez-Duran triangle etc. Floyd would fight Duran in similar fashion to how Leonard fought him in the rematch or how Benitez fought him. No logical person can therefore state that Duran is a lock to beat Floyd at 147lbs.

 

I've analyzed many times before why Duran's style is made to defeat Floyd. Too lazy to go into great depth on it anymore, plus I'm busy at work today so trying to keep this brief. So, in short:

Floyd was not as effective against swarming, bruising, aggressive fighters. Castillo arguably beat him with steady, rough, swarming pressure. Maidana gave him problems with swarming, rough, pressure. Now, you may say that Floyd was past his prime against Maidana, but you'd be a hypocrite since you CONSISTENTLY tear down Duran for his past prime losses. The Maidana fight came right after the Canelo fight, one of the Floyd's best performance. It's not entirely coincidental - that swarming, rough, pressure gives Floyd problems. Even HATTON gave Floyd early problems with his style, until Floyd adjusted and exposed Hatton's many weaknesses.

Floyd's VERY best performances have come against plodding, methodical guys - Corrales, and Canelo are perfect examples. Floyd eats guys like that for breakfast, but that wasn't Roberto Duran.

Take Maidana, Hatton, and Castillo, add 10x more talent and skill... and that's prime Duran.

IMO Floyd loses prime-for-prime.

If ANYBODY was more effective at handling pressure styles than Floyd was, it was Whitaker.

Which is why I've always said, Whitaker has a better chance of beating Duran at 135 than Floyd.

I see Whitaker-Duran as a 50/50 fight at 135.

 

Whitaker is better at 135 than both

 

Fockin´ A, he is!