Pernell Whitaker vs. Roberto Duran at 135 (prime vs. prime)

[Grimm]

Who wins this match out of animal vs. master boxer?

How?

[cabritox]

Duran wins by KO in the 8th round. too tough and hard puncher for pernell whitaker. Sweet pea didnt have a strong punch at his prime.

[Grimm]

Duran wins by KO in the 8th round. too tough and hard puncher for pernell whitaker. Sweet pea didnt have a strong punch at his prime.

Duran may have very indeed won.

But I doubt this fight would end in any kind of KO, if old out of prime Whitaker can take young prime Trinidad's punches at welterweight for 12 rounds then I don't see Duran knocking Whitaker at all.

[meade95]

Whitaker beats Duran at LW (IMO) - Durn could be out boxed (by a great boxer) - Whiatker wins a close Dec -

[Seamus]

On the surface I'd be very tempted to pick Duran, but the more I think about it, if Whitaker was totally psyched and had time to prepare, I think I'd go with Sweet Pea by a close decision. Duran was a relentless puncher at LW and had deceptively fast hands and alot of power, but when Whitaker really get's motivated and switches into his you can't hit me mode, fast hands or not you aren't going to land many shots on a guy who's reflexes are Warp Factor 9. A fighter who can make future Hall of Famers Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar DeLaHoya look like they couldn't hit the side of a barn, isn't too likely to get worn down and finished off. And, if anyone thinks Whitaker would get destroyed on the inside, just remember he clearly got the better of the very physical Jose Luis Ramirez in two bouts at LW.

[BoxBuzz]

At lightweight Duran Wins, but if we kick it up a notch in weight I give the nod to Sweet Pea.

[Grimm]

At lightweight Duran Wins take it up and I give the nod to Sweet Pea.

I'm not sure I understand this statement.

[BoxBuzz]

Amended

[tiredoldngrey]

Whitaker had a way of bamboozling fighters into doing things that didn't make sense; oddly Rivera was one of the few to figure it ouyt and make Whitaker come to him. Duran at 135 was an underrated boxer, and he was very shrewd in the ring. I don't see him tolerating much of Pernell's antics. I think a big suprise in this fight would be Duran outboxing Whitaker; it has always been my opinion that he wasn't strong enough offensively to stay in with the best though against the likes of Nazario, etc.. he did fine. Not enough fire power to keep Duran off of him, not ring enough to run from him. There were questions about his chin for years and they get answered against Duran, who wins by late round muti knockdown TKO

[dws]

I'm surprised some think Duran would stop Whitaker,short of some flash knockdowns,most if not all I think he suffered at 147(and after he'd probably had at least a few yrs of cocaine use),I don't think I ever remember seeing Whitaker seriously hurt.That being said I would favor Duran.Whitaker would obviously have the better speed and defense but Duran was not exactly slow at 135 plus he was good defensively when he wanted to be.The difference would be Duran's body work and punching power,and Whitaker's lack of.Duran(and Ray Arcel) would be smart enough to not try to out box Whitaker but fight him like he did Leonard and smother him,nullifying Whitaker's speed and defense.Duran would win a close decsion,I don't think even Duran could stop Whitaker.

[Grimm]

I'm surprised some think Duran would stop Whitaker,short of some flash knockdowns,most if not all I think he suffered at 147(and after he'd probably had at least a few yrs of cocaine use),I don't think I ever remember seeing Whitaker seriously hurt.That being said I would favor Duran.Whitaker would obviously have the better speed and defense but Duran was not exactly slow at 135 plus he was good defensively when he wanted to be.The difference would be Duran's body work and punching power,and Whitaker's lack of.Duran(and Ray Arcel) would be smart enough to not try to out box Whitaker but fight him like he did Leonard and smother him,nullifying Whitaker's speed and defense.Duran would win a close decsion,I don't think even Duran could stop Whitaker.

Yeah I don't think any lightweight could stop Whitaker.

If Trinidad couldn't stop the 35 year old 147 pound crack head version of Whitaker then I definitely don't see Duran stopping the 25 year old prime lightweight Whitaker.

[SUGARRAYSMELEE]

Duran would win.

Whitaker didn't possess the kind of punch to trouble Duran.

Duran had much better stamina, he would dictate the fight, much like he did against Leonard the 1st time denying Pernell any space or time to breathe. Duran would be able to absorb Whitaker's punches so he would most likely wade in close to Pernell, take a couple hits, and unload heavy, punishing blows on Whitaker. Duran would be too relentless, he wins by TKO or UD.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Whitaker was KO-proof.

As for the bout itself? Duran wins the decision. Whitaker wins the actual fight, though.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Duran would win.

Whitaker didn't possess the kind of punch to trouble Duran.

Duran had much better stamina, he would dictate the fight, much like he did against Leonard the 1st time denying Pernell any space or time to breathe. Duran would be able to absorb Whitaker's punches so he would most likely wade in close to Pernell, take a couple hits, and unload heavy, punishing blows on Whitaker. Duran would be too relentless, he wins by TKO or UD.

Oh yes, it's just that simple with Whitaker. Get in close & unload some punishing hits

At LW, Whitaker > Duran. No matter how offensive those who grew up watching Duran invariably find it.

[SUGARRAYSMELEE]

Duran would win.

Whitaker didn't possess the kind of punch to trouble Duran.

Duran had much better stamina, he would dictate the fight, much like he did against Leonard the 1st time denying Pernell any space or time to breathe. Duran would be able to absorb Whitaker's punches so he would most likely wade in close to Pernell, take a couple hits, and unload heavy, punishing blows on Whitaker. Duran would be too relentless, he wins by TKO or UD.

Oh yes, it's just that simple with Whitaker. Get in close & unload some punishing hits

At LW, Whitaker > Duran. No matter how offensive those who grew up watching Duran invariably find it.

Duran waded in on Leonard, smothered him, and punished him @ welterweight after he came up from LW.

If he can do that against Leonard, he does it against Whitaker, especially @ LW. Whitaker can't punch, if Roger Mayweather can drop Whitaker, I'm pretty sure a prime Duran can too, especially over 15 rounds.

[Idisagree]

Anybody picking Duran by KO or TKO has never seen a prime Whitaker fight or have no clue of what they are talking about. Yes Whitaker did not have much power but he threw in excess of 1,000 punches per fight. He was an absolute defensive wizard and a damn great accurate counter puncher.

Duran's power would not mean much because Sweet Pea did have an iron chin. Didn’t he fight some rounds vs Trinidad with a broken jaw? And still was able to take Trinidad's power. Please I recommend some people go and actually see a prime Sweet Pea fight and then comeback.

If guys like Hector Matta, Edwin Viruet, and Saoul Mamby were able to survive Duran, so could Whitaker that was by far a better boxer.

Duran was a beast at lightweight, but if anybody could outbox Duran it would have been Whitaker. This fight is more a 50/50 for me.

[Idisagree]

Duran would win.

Whitaker didn't possess the kind of punch to trouble Duran.

Duran had much better stamina, he would dictate the fight, much like he did against Leonard the 1st time denying Pernell any space or time to breathe. Duran would be able to absorb Whitaker's punches so he would most likely wade in close to Pernell, take a couple hits, and unload heavy, punishing blows on Whitaker. Duran would be too relentless, he wins by TKO or UD.

Oh yes, it's just that simple with Whitaker. Get in close & unload some punishing hits

At LW, Whitaker > Duran. No matter how offensive those who grew up watching Duran invariably find it.

Duran waded in on Leonard, smothered him, and punished him @ welterweight after he came up from LW.

If he can do that against Leonard, he does it against Whitaker, especially @ LW. Whitaker can't punch, if Roger Mayweather can drop Whitaker, I'm pretty sure a prime Duran can too, especially over 15 rounds.

And if De Jesus was able to outbox Duran, then so could Whitaker.

And how hurt was Whitaker when he was dropped by Mayweather?

[SUGARRAYSMELEE]

Oh yes, it's just that simple with Whitaker. Get in close & unload some punishing hits

At LW, Whitaker > Duran. No matter how offensive those who grew up watching Duran invariably find it.

Duran waded in on Leonard, smothered him, and punished him @ welterweight after he came up from LW.

If he can do that against Leonard, he does it against Whitaker, especially @ LW. Whitaker can't punch, if Roger Mayweather can drop Whitaker, I'm pretty sure a prime Duran can too, especially over 15 rounds.

And if De Jesus was able to outbox Duran, then so could Whitaker.

And how hurt was Whitaker when he was dropped by Mayweather?

I don't know how hurt he was but he was dropped nonetheless. He didn't have his legs back completely until a little way through the next round. The only point I was trying to make is that he got dropped by Roger Mayweather who was far from a phenomenal fighter and that was when Sweet Pea was in his prime.

[Diamond WEAPON]

Saying Duran would KO Whitaker because Roger Mayweather dropped him is just silly, they're two completely different kind of fighters and Whitaker would've treated them differently. Pernell got dropped by Roger because he didn't really fear him and underestimated how fast his hands were, which allowed Roger to hit him a lot more flush than most fighters did.

With Duran, he would've fought much more defensively because he represents an obvious physical threat to anyone he fights below Welterweight. I do think Duran wins a close but clear decision here though, because his own handspeed with combinations on top of his footspeed would allow him to close the distance and touch up Whitaker far more often than most other opponents, especially whenever Whitaker tries to mount any kind of offense of his own. It would benefit Duran to wade in and feint in order to draw out a counter from Whitaker so that he could then counter the counter.

[elmersalsa]

I pick Duran. But I don't dismiss a win by Whitaker either. Whitaker was a great boxing master. Duran was an underrated technician with power.

[Idisagree]

I don't know how hurt he was but he was dropped nonetheless. He didn't have his legs back completely until a little way through the next round. The only point I was trying to make is that he got dropped by Roger Mayweather who was far from a phenomenal fighter and that was when Sweet Pea was in his prime.

1. Are you kidding? Sweet Pea prime with only 11 professional fights??? That statement only proves that you haven't seen much of the prime Whitaker.
2. Roger was lucky that the bell save him in the first round.
3. Pernell had Mayweather hurt several times throughout the fight.
4. Pernell was hurt but he was nowhere close to being in danger of getting stopped.
5. This fight should be based on skills prime for prime not prime vs green.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Oh yes, it's just that simple with Whitaker. Get in close & unload some punishing hits

At LW, Whitaker > Duran. No matter how offensive those who grew up watching Duran invariably find it.

Duran waded in on Leonard, smothered him, and punished him @ welterweight after he came up from LW.

If he can do that against Leonard, he does it against Whitaker, especially @ LW. Whitaker can't punch, if Roger Mayweather can drop Whitaker, I'm pretty sure a prime Duran can too, especially over 15 rounds.

And if De Jesus was able to outbox Duran, then so could Whitaker.

And how hurt was Whitaker when he was dropped by Mayweather?

Exactly the rebuttal I was going to use. You can go round & round with that logic.

[theone]

Whitaker would frustrate the hell out of Duran, who wasn't known for his composure. "Sweat Pea" would win an exciting but clear cut decision.

[SUGARRAYSMELEE]

I don't know how hurt he was but he was dropped nonetheless. He didn't have his legs back completely until a little way through the next round. The only point I was trying to make is that he got dropped by Roger Mayweather who was far from a phenomenal fighter and that was when Sweet Pea was in his prime.

1. Are you kidding? Sweet Pea prime with only 11 professional fights??? That statement only proves that you haven't seen much of the prime Whitaker.
2. Roger was lucky that the bell save him in the first round.
3. Pernell had Mayweather hurt several times throughout the fight.
4. Pernell was hurt but he was nowhere close to being in danger of getting stopped.
5. This fight should be based on skills prime for prime not prime vs green.

Well, its pretty well established that Duran is the best Lightweight of all time, most boxing historians agree with that as do most boxing fans. Check The Ring, ESPN, or Bert Sugar lists. Many boxing historians have him ranked the highest, the only LW people consider better than Duran is Benny Leonard.

[Idisagree]

Well, its pretty well established that Duran is the best Lightweight of all time, most boxing historians agree with that as do most boxing fans. Check The Ring, ESPN, or Bert Sugar lists. Many boxing historians have him ranked the highest, the only LW people consider better than Duran is Benny Leonard.

I rank Duran higher p4p, and I do also rank him higher than Sweet Pea at 135 p4p. However, head to head at 135 is another story. Pernell is the type of boxer that could in any given night outbox any fighter in history at that weight class. He was brilliant and he had the style to frustrate Duran. See Duran vs Benitez. Benitez never gave Duran a chance to sit on his punches and was able to keep Duran off balance and kept his offense on check with his defensive skills. Sweet Pea could have done the same.

Also, I'm going for what I've seen of both, not by historians opinions. The rankings you are talking about are in p4p sense, not head to head.