Hey buddy. I couldn't agree more. I've been writing about this for years, very, very few fighters have what it would take to make in the better eras of boxing 80's early 70's, early 60's, and 50's. Think about it Pancho, how would you see Floyd moving up in weight as he has and fighting Pryor, Herans, Leonard, Duran, Quevas, Curry, Sanchez, Olivarez, Lopez, Zarate, Hagler, Armstrong, Zivic and Duran all of those guys would destroy Mayweather.
Duran was on point talking about how the fighters today are limited in having good fights against good fighters. All the above mentioned guys moved up and fought to their level of opposition in fights where they weren't clear cut favorites. Canelo is the first guy that Mayweather is going to fight that is "Closest" to his prime. In my opinion Canelo is still two or three fights away from beating Floyd and Canelo is NOT in his prime, he's close but not there yet.
What Duran said is why 10 to 15 years from now no one will be mentioning Floyd's name along the all time greats as Duran, Leonard, Hearns, Hagler, and countless other truly Great fighters.
Thanks Pancho for the question you shouldn't stay away for so long.
Hello Pancho. As much as I love and respect Floyd Mayweather Jr as a fighter, I have to agree with Roberto Duran.
Duran's era was simply too great compared to now. Back then, they had Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Wilfred Benitez, Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello, Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, and so much more. And for Floyd to remain undefeated while fighting all these guys is nearly impossible. At the most, he will be a B- class fighter.
The fighters I believe he'll be better than are his dad and his uncle, Floyd Sr. and Roger. If he ever fought them (which would be somewhat weird lol) he would probably defeat them.
Like I said, I respect Floyd a lot. He is one of my favorite fighters of all time, but I got to agree with the all time great in Roberto Duran. He knows what he is talking about.
I agree with this assessment, Pancho. I think that era was much more tougher to crack than this current era, and Floyd couldn't run and hide like he did in this one.
Leonard, hagler, mayweather, hearns and Duran- imagine that! The Fab 5
He would be trouble for any of them guys. Would lose a fight or two but they are the greatest fighters of all time.
Absolute garbage, on any level at any point in Durans career, Floyd would have given him nightmares.
When Floyd was lightweight (and younger) he was much more vicious and willing to engage. He was also MUCH FASTER and stronger than most of the people Duran ever faced. Please reference on youtube Floyd debacling Arturo Gatti or Corrales...both of which were supposedly "stronger" than Floyd and were supposed to be challenges. Both of which he beat the brakes off of.
Now dont get me wrong, there are guys in that era that would have given Floyd the blues. Hearns was too big and had way to accurate a jab for Floyd to do much with. SRL would have been a challenge in early rounds...but even HE would have been suspect the longer the fight went. SRL gassed routinely, Floyd hasnt gassed out in a fight yet.
But specifically, Duran, for all that he was...was a fighter first and foremost. He would have been baffled trying to fight Floyd. For the most part if you dont have foot speed enough to close distance or cut ring as fast as Floyd can move, your gonna spend alot of rounds swinging at air...at best you can hope to make contact with his arms and get countered.
Duran was not a "smart fighter" he was an aggressive fighter. And once that didnt work anymore....allow me to quote him..
..."no mas".
Duran has had two eras: in the late 60s through mid 70s where he reigned almost unopposed as lightweight king and the late 70s through the 80s where he was a player in the welterweight up to the middleweight divisions.
Duran's prime eras coincided with the Ali mania in boxing with many aspiring fighters wanting to ape and be like Muhammad Ali with varying results, especially in the 80s. The Ali influence is very much evident in a few fighters that Duran proceeded to meet at that time especially Sugar Ray Leonard and Wilfred Benitez.
However, at lightweight, I don't know of any fighter that mimicked the Ali style of fighting that he met and beat that would make him say that current Ali clone Floyd Mayweather would just be another guy in the bunch had Floyd emerged in his time at 135 lbs. Most of the fighters he faced and beat at lightweights in his time were ordinary boxers or brawlers like him.
Of course, we know his results against fighters who fought like Ali and by relation, Floyd Mayweather in the welterweights as Leonard and Benitez,.
I think it was kinda exagg for Duran to say what he said about Floyd M.
Absolute rubbish. Duran is one of my top 3 favorite fighters of all time, and probably the only guy I would pick to Possibly beat floyd at lightweight, but that's bollocks and so is most people's opinion of floyd as a fighter.
I get that people don't like floyd, I see why people want to bring him down even Though I personally like him, but to claim he would be just another fighter in another era is absolutey retarded. it would definatley be more competitive and he'd have much harder fights but he is without doubt one of the very best skilled fighters of all time. How many guys stay undefeated for over 17 years at the top? and how many guys can you think of that were better defensive fighters than floyd? Whitaker, locche and Benitez are comparable and that's pretty much it.
Anyone who can't see how great floyds skills are in the ring doesn't know boxing.
Yes.. Because Floyd wouldn't be fighting elites in Duran's era. He would be picking only C or lower fighters. This is how Floyd is keeping his undefeated azz.
Floyd Mayweather would of been very tough for Roberto Duran to beat, just as a prime 'Sugar' Ray Leonard went back to the drawing board after suffering his 1st professional career loss against 'the hands of stone' he came up with a masterful game plan that led to the infamous 'no mas' Duran quitting saying no more at the end of the 8th round so would a prime Floyd Mayweather Jr. out box and frustrate Duran maybe not to the point of quitting but styles make fights and outside of a punchers chance as much as I love Roberto Duran I see Floyd Mayweather Jr. out boxing and beating Duran by a competitive but unanimous decision victory
Couldn't agree more with him because him, Chavez sr, Whitaker and many more would school him
He said that if Floyd fought in his era he would have been "just another guy in the bunch."
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/floyd-mayweather-just-another-guy-era-says-roberto-135600471.html
I know the era was great back then but Floyd is a great fighter with great skills. Would he have been ordinary back then as Duran is suggesting?
Your thoughts gents?
