Roberto Duran Versus

[Vladimir5555]

Felix Trinidad
Fernando Vargas
Ike Quartey
Mark Breland

[SaadOffTheDeck]

All Duran there.

[Ezzard]

Fun fights. All Roberto's

[polecateddy]

I think Breland is the only weak link. Maybe he could get to Vargas. Trinidad and Quartey too good at welterweight at their peak.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Trinidad and Quartey too good at welterweight at their peak.

[elmersalsa]

I think Breland is the only weak link. Maybe he could get to Vargas. Trinidad and Quartey too good at welterweight at their peak.

Say what? Those guys were not in the great Roberto Duran's class.

[tommo100]

duran by annihilation,especially breland,quartey could pose him some problems with his arkward defensive set up but he wouldn't keep him off for 12 rounds

[BoxBuzz]

I'd like to know which of those guys would even want to fight Duran.

Wouldn't matter. Duran would be happy to oblige them all, and dispatch them as well.

[elmersalsa]

Roberto Duran vs Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles would be a great fight back in the 70s. But that Mantequilla of the 70s was not the fighting machine of the late 60s or early 70s.

[polecateddy]

As Leonard ably demonstrated, Duran could be well outboxed at welter with the right approach.

[King Carlos]

As Leonard ably demonstrated, Duran could be well outboxed at welter with the right approach.

And Trinidad and Quartey were the types to dance around the ring, throwing minimally, and attempting to clown/take him out of the fight mentally? I don't think so.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

'No Mas' was highly competitive. He'd have beaten either of those guys on that night. Every other night at Welter he was a monster.

[polecateddy]

'No Mas' was highly competitive. He'd have beaten either of those guys on that night. Every other night at Welter he was a monster.

...the Kirkland Laing night? Or was that light-middle?!

[SaadOffTheDeck]

It wasn't at Welter.

[polecateddy]

But Liang effectively was, at 149 pounds.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

That's highly irrelevant.

[polecateddy]

That's highly irrelevant.

In the sense that smart boxers who are welterweights could outbox him? You make no sense!

[SaadOffTheDeck]

That's highly irrelevant.

In the sense that smart boxers who are welterweights could outbox him? You make no sense!

In the sense that it was years later and Duran was no longer a Welterweight. It's ok, we all have memory lapses. No need to cling to it blindly.

[jezzamundo]

Felix Trinidad
Fernando Vargas
Ike Quartey
Mark Breland

Trinidad and Vargas both have big size advantages over Duran, which makes those fights more competitive than you might think. I like Duran to win all four fights, stopping Breland, outpointing the rest in competitive fights.

[SenorPipino]

Late 1973

Discussed

Roberto Duran {Age; 22} vs. Jose Napoles {Age; 33}

Roberto wouldn't go to Mexico, and Jose wouldn't go to Panama.

Sounds like a very competitive fight at that point.
Napoles still had something in the tank in 1973, but he began slipping badly the next year losing to Monzon and barely surviving the infamous battle with Armando Muniz.
Duran was young and still improving in '73, but he was about 6 years away from competing at welter---a big edge for Mantequilla.
Think Duran might shade the late '73 version of Mantequilla by outworking him and wearing him down in the later rounds.
Fight is in L.A., but it's what takes place in the ring that matters.

[Bobbyptsd]

I think at welter he beats them all. Quartey gives him the most trouble of the bunch in my view, for what it's worth.

[Jaywheel]

I think Breland is the only weak link. Maybe he could get to Vargas. Trinidad and Quartey too good at welterweight at their peak.

[AngryGoon38]

As Leonard ably demonstrated, Duran could be well outboxed at welter with the right approach.

Duran was horrendously weight drained. Didnt have near the ample required time to properly lose the weight in healthy gradual fashion but instead,was VERY Hurried,as Promoters seeked to cater to Leonards demands,even though it was Duran who was Champ going into the rematch. Had Duran demanded the fight/rematch be made in,say,February of 81 instead of november of 80,those extra 3 months would've paid major dividends on Duran's behalf,this i am absolutely certain of.

After all,this was a 29 year old still Prime Duran and he mysteriously quits while not even taking a beating,as the cards sure enough only had Leonard very narrowly ahead at the time of Duran's "Dire Health Related" surrender. He was obviously becomming very unusually weak and lightheaded due to the after effects of the Mega Ultra Rapid WeightLoss. This kind of thing is extremely detrimental for a competitive athlete to be doing just before partaking in an extremely gruelling endeavor such as a world class Championship Boxing match,thats scedualed for 15 rounds no less ! Please think and properly analyze before jumping into overenthusiastic/overzelous conclusions.

In further proving my point,if its even necessary,why would a much older Duran in 1989 in they're 3rd outing be willing and able to keep chasing after Leonard for the full 10 round distance,yet at 9 years younger,he had to bail out before the end of the 8th round ?! I think the points i made previously are even more to be seriously considered but even this point should make one seriously take note that the young but severely weight drained duran of 1980 at 29 years of age obviously for serious health reasons had no business to be in the ring that night. He needed another several months to re-acclimate himself. You dont go dropping from 230 to 147 within 8 weeks and then put yourself in an obliged position of setting forth to fight for 15 gruelling rounds if need be...!
Basically,Duran's tank was barely half full before the bell rang for round 1 of the rematch and by round 8,he was all but running on fumes,or running on empty as they say.

[polecateddy]

No doubt Duran would struggle to get 'up' for Norris too, Norris for all his talent never having been in the superstar category of fighter.