Trinidad vs. Duran at 147 lbs.

[theone]

not sure I agree in fact the "much better boxer" statement is very suspect in my mind,

Maybe on pure scientific skill I overstated my point, I'll give you that. But
I truly believe Hearns boxing skills, in addition to his hand speed, crippling power and physical attributes makes him nearly impossible for any fighter in history from jr middle on down to out box. That includes such fighters as Robinson and Armstrong. However I believe both of these fighters, would have defeated him the way Leonard did. If you dont knock prime Hearns out you aint beating him.

Give me your take on Barkley's ability to dominate Hearns and then Durans ability to at least be Competitive with Barkley.

Pre-Haglar, Hearns chin may not have been granite but it was sturdy. It took both Leonard and Haglar alot of flush punches to put Tommy out, and he was still on his feet (albeit barely) at the end of both fights. After the beating Haglar laid on him, Hearns was not the same fighter. His reflexes and ability to take a shot were affected.Guys like Roldan, who Hearns would have dismissed pre-Haglar was now tagging him regularly and seemed to stagger him with every shot. If Barkley had fought Hearns at his prime the fight would have finished alot like the Barkley/ Benn fight.

[Seamus]

I think alot of people look at Leonard-Duran I, and automatically think Leonard is all the way around better than Trinidad, so ergo Duran beats Trinidad. While I agree Leonard rates higher than Trinidad, there still is one big area where Trinidad would match up better with the Montreal Duran. Duran imposed his will on Leonard for a good part of there first bout and even at times looked to have intimidated him. Against Trinidad this wouldn't work, because Tito loves to go to war, and the one thing he does better than Leonard is slug. Duran's defense at WW was good, as was his chin, but Tito would land enough bombs to make Duran fight backing up for 12 rounds. Trinidad was only KO'd once in his career, and that came at MW in the final round against a powerful Bernard Hopkins. There's no way in hell Duran hit's hard enough at WW to KO Tito. Duran won some big fights above LW, but if you check his record his ko pct dropped considerably when he went up.

Leonard-Duran I, isn't really the best example either(let the fireworks begin), since Leonard was nowhere near as sharp as he was in Vegas against Hearns the following year. If you don't believe that, watch how many shots Duran lands against Leonard in Montreal, then watch Leonard-Hearns I, and you'll see that while Hearns, a fighter with a decided avantage over Duran in handspeed, power and reach, scores rather consistently with his jab against Leonard, he can't land anything big.

[Borinken25]

I know that Duran and Hearns are better than Tito, but that is not my point. You don’t have to be better in order to win a fight and I give you one example. RJJ vs. Tarver. Do I think for one second that Tarver is better than RJJ, no way in hell. But the fact remains that Tarver beat a better all around boxer twice. I know Tito’s limitations but I give him a better chance of beating Duran than any other fighter of that era. For example Tito in my mind has 0% chance of beating Hagler, Leonard and benitez but Hearns I will say who ever landed first and Duran well you already read what I have to say. I want to take the chance to thanks everyone for their opinions.

[Roll With The Punches]

i think it comes down to a couple of things

Chin - Duran could take bombs from Trinidad, as evidenced by his fight against Hearns where Hearns had to beat an out of shape Duran up for 2 straight rounds to get him out of there.....meanwhile, Tito has been dropped so many times that I can easily see Duran landing clever counterpunches and dropping him a few times

Fighting on the back foot - if Duran hurts Tito and backs him up then Tito would be in a lot of trouble...or if Duran proves to be too slick on the inside and makes tito go backwards then what can tito do? Meanwhile, Duran could fight off the back foot and counterpunch beautifully


i would also see a lot of low blows occuring in this fight

[theone]

Chin - Duran could take bombs from Trinidad, as evidenced by his fight against Hearns where Hearns had to beat an out of shape Duran up for 2 straight rounds to get him out of there.

Are you serious? Hearns knocked out Duran with a single punch and didnt have to work that hard to that point either.

[Roll With The Punches]

Chin - Duran could take bombs from Trinidad, as evidenced by his fight against Hearns where Hearns had to beat an out of shape Duran up for 2 straight rounds to get him out of there.

Are you serious? Hearns knocked out Duran with a single punch and didnt have to work that hard to that point either.

what are you talking about man?
Duran was knocked down twice in the first round, and spent all of round two holding on and getting beat up on the ropes before the final right hand

[wolverine1]

Tito moves forward with his right leg cocked way back. Duran had some of the best defense ever - movement, feints, and dodging.

This fight would have Tito following an elusive counter-punching Duran, who would eventually twist his way inside Tito's punches and connect. More than once. Once Duran figured out how to lure Tito into his strategy, he would set Tito up for some knockdowns, and quite possibly KO him late in the fight.

[Ezzard]

If this is prime for prime then Duran wins convincingly. His defence and speed would be way too much for Tito.

[elmersalsa]

A one dimensional fighter like Tito could not beat the great Roberto Duran.

Tito is not in Duran's class.

Hey, I do not hink Tito could whip a jr welterweight great like Aaron Pryor either