Whitaker of Nazario fight vs. Duran of De Jesus III fight (LW) Whitaker of McGirt II fight vs. Duran of Leonard I fight (WW) Whitaker of Vasquez fight vs. Duran of Moore Fight (154) Who takes these matches?
Over 15 I fancy Duran by razor thin decision. Over 12 it's gonna be inconclusive, controversial, unsatisfactory, & so on.
I always liked Whitaker in these fights. People continue to under-rate his offense --- especially when he dug in to the body. It surprised a lot of men, & his defense really forced a lot of fighters to close down their attack simply for fear of being embarrassed any further. That said, no one is embarrassing Duran during his Lightweight days. It just seems to me the more you threw, the harder your night became against Whitaker, & Duran just isn't the type of calculating puncher, in spite of his surprising precision & terrific handspeed, to pick his spots. The toughest part for Whitaker will also be that which opens the door for him --- Duran's activity. My verdict would be Whitaker. Each have a claim to a top-5 all-time spot at Lightweight (though they both narrowly miss the cut, for me), & that is history's deepest division for legends, IMO. Duran was the bigger man, & it would probably have told by Jr. Middleweight. Welter would be interesting --- Whitaker was more consistent there for mine, but never did he best someone so fantastic as a prime Leonard (& I'm not of the opinion Whitaker would be favoured to beat that version of Leonard, either --- even if I do, in fact, consider him a better pound-for-pounder).
I think these are the two best lightweights who ever lived... I also think Whitaker would win 7 out of 10 at Lightweight and it would be closer the higher they went... I love his style against Duran.... like Ramonza, I think Duran does better the higher in wieght they go, even though Whitaker was more conistent at 147 than Duran... I think Roberto carried that extra mass more comfortably
Agree with this point. I also felt Duran's chances would be best at welter. Either way I'm clearly not gonna pick against Duran in any match up, ever, since I have a man crush on him (Locche gets a draw).
@ LW Whitaker by TKO 5 as Duran quits @ WW Whitaker 12-0 @ 154 Whitaker DQ8 as Duran butts and elbows :crafty::kidcool:
Yo' so zany!:Ramonza: Seriously it's a tough fight for Duran. In a trilogy I'd expect him to drop at last one. But Whitaker is taking more hard shots off a prime Duran than he ever has before win or lose, no one could disguise a sneak right like Manos.
