BoxRec

Two of the best lightweights to ever lace 'em up go at it.

Who wins in a 15 rounder?

Whitaker SD

Sweet Pea, the kind of guy--slick, intelligent boxer, good footwork--who would always give Duran fits.
Anywhere from 135 to 147, Whitaker pulls out a close, but deserved decision.

Yeah....I sincerely doubt Whitaker could do to Duran what he did to Chavez....and Sweet Pea couldn't get the judges to give that to him....as much as he deserved it.


I don't think the judges are going to give this to Whittaker, but we might see it differently. I think Duran would do considerably better than Chavez.....and Duran at least has a chance of stopping Sweet Pea....but there is no possibility of the opposite outcome.

True, but there is the possibility Whitaker could make Duran quit.

Seamus wrote:True, but there is the possibility Whitaker could make Duran quit.

I don't agree. He's not my favourite fighter of all time, and I like Whitaker more than SRL by a long way, but Leonard had a dimension that Whitaker does not possess. He really knew how to get into his opponents head and mess it up. He did it to Duran and he did it to Hagler. Whitaker does not have that ability.
I think that Whitaker could frustrate Duran just as well, if not better than Leonard, but he could not mess Duran up enough mentally to make him quit.

close one but I'd take Whitaker here

Pernell was superb. Duran is arguably a top ten fighter of all time. Top twenty at worst.

Duran by any means necessary. We are talking lightweights here. Duran takes a back seat to no fighter. Your best lightweight that you can think of might have been as good as him, but not better.

Stop. Please. Stop.

Esquire wrote:Pernell was superb. Duran is arguably a top ten fighter of all time. Top twenty at worst.

Duran by any means necessary. We are talking lightweights here. Duran takes a back seat to no fighter. Your best lightweight that you can think of might have been as good as him, but not better.

Stop. Please. Stop.

Except for that Dejesus guy.

Othro wrote:

Esquire wrote:Pernell was superb. Duran is arguably a top ten fighter of all time. Top twenty at worst.

Duran by any means necessary. We are talking lightweights here. Duran takes a back seat to no fighter. Your best lightweight that you can think of might have been as good as him, but not better.

Stop. Please. Stop.

Except for that Dejesus guy.

DeJesus was an excellent fighter and will ultimately reside in the Hall of Fame. He had his best day on Duran's worst day. And then he got brutalized twice by the very same Duran.

Whitaker is one of my favorites. But he isn't the best lightweight of all time whereby Duran is. Or, at least, is in the discussion for the best lightweight of all time. I don't know how old you are but you have to have lived through the Duran prime and witnessed it live to fully appreciate this monster. Most guys began following Duran at welterweight and above. That was not Roberto Duran. The LW Duran was a monster before the era of PED's. He was perfect without drugs.

Esquire wrote:

Othro wrote:

Esquire wrote:Pernell was superb. Duran is arguably a top ten fighter of all time. Top twenty at worst.

Duran by any means necessary. We are talking lightweights here. Duran takes a back seat to no fighter. Your best lightweight that you can think of might have been as good as him, but not better.

Stop. Please. Stop.

Except for that Dejesus guy.

DeJesus was an excellent fighter and will ultimately reside in the Hall of Fame. He had his best day on Duran's worst day. And then he got brutalized twice by the very same Duran.

Whitaker is one of my favorites. But he isn't the best lightweight of all time whereby Duran is. Or, at least, is in the discussion for the best lightweight of all time. I don't know how old you are but you have to have lived through the Duran prime and witnessed it live to fully appreciate this monster. Most guys began following Duran at welterweight and above. That was not Roberto Duran. The LW Duran was a monster before the era of PED's. He was perfect without drugs.

Duran is a great no doubt I just don't see him as this unbeatable God that everyone else does . Was Dejesus the better fighter ? No. But if he could do it I don't find it too far fetched to think Whittaker could

Esquire wrote:

Othro wrote:

Esquire wrote:Pernell was superb. Duran is arguably a top ten fighter of all time. Top twenty at worst.

Duran by any means necessary. We are talking lightweights here. Duran takes a back seat to no fighter. Your best lightweight that you can think of might have been as good as him, but not better.

Stop. Please. Stop.

Except for that Dejesus guy.

DeJesus was an excellent fighter and will ultimately reside in the Hall of Fame. He had his best day on Duran's worst day. And then he got brutalized twice by the very same Duran.

Whitaker is one of my favorites. But he isn't the best lightweight of all time whereby Duran is. Or, at least, is in the discussion for the best lightweight of all time. I don't know how old you are but you have to have lived through the Duran prime and witnessed it live to fully appreciate this monster. Most guys began following Duran at welterweight and above. That was not Roberto Duran. The LW Duran was a monster before the era of PED's. He was perfect without drugs.

DeJesus was an excellent fighter and will ultimately reside in the Hall of Fame. He had his best day on Duran's worst day. And then he got brutalized twice by the very same Duran.

Whitaker is one of my favorites. But he isn't the best lightweight of all time whereby Duran is. Or, at least, is in the discussion for the best lightweight of all time. I don't know how old you are but you have to have lived through the Duran prime and witnessed it live to fully appreciate this monster. Most guys began following Duran at welterweight and above. That was not Roberto Duran. The LW Duran was a monster before the era of PED's. He was perfect without drugs.[/quote]
Duran is a great no doubt I just don't see him as this unbeatable God that everyone else does . Was Dejesus the better fighter ? No. But if he could do it I don't find it too far fetched to think Whittaker could[/quote]

Please be honest with me. How old are you? I'm 50 years old and saw what I saw. I don't say bad words about anyone. I just want to know if you saw Duran in his prime. Your argument is sound, and I can't knock you for it, but for the sake of fun please tell me how old you are and I will give up the argument :)

I will narrowly and reluctantly go with Pernell to take a razor thin decision. Dude was hard as hell to hit flush and flustered plenty of men with his south paw style. Duran could be frustrated too. Anything can happen though and I certainly wouldn't count out one of the very best light weights of all time.

Esquire wrote:
Please be honest with me. How old are you? I'm 50 years old and saw what I saw. I don't say bad words about anyone. I just want to know if you saw Duran in his prime. Your argument is sound, and I can't knock you for it, but for the sake of fun please tell me how old you are and I will give up the argument :)

I'm not old enough to have seen Duran fight live in his prime but I've seen a ton of his fights. Not sure what point you're trying to prove here as if you watching them when they happened give you a better assessment of his skills than it would if I watched it today.

Seamus wrote:True, but there is the possibility Whitaker could make Duran quit.

At his best Duran would win this. Whittaker would cause him all sorts of problems but Duran's attack would see Pernell's output drop as he was forced to defend more.

Duran had the physical gifts too...the speed and the power and the durability advantages are all with him. And I think Duran has enough talent and raw skill to overcome Whittaker's stylistic advantages.

But Pernell wins some of the time in a fight series between the two. Roberto just wins more often.

Some say that because Esteban DeJesus, who was an excellent fighter, who beat the great Roberto Duran in the first fight, think that the great Pernell Whitaker would do much better. Esteban would have beaten Sweet Pea in that night of November 17, 1972, too!

Duran at lightweight was a total evil monster. An evil assassin. Whitaker would give him some problems, he would probably win one of a 3 fight series in my opinion. But to totally outclass Duran? No way. Duran would have won the series.

Whitaker would be the toughest possible matchup for Duran at this weight, but still I gotta favor Duran.

I think Whitaker COULD beat Duran.....but only once out of three attempts. I don't think either would be KO'd.

Whitaker has become the most overrated fighter if the last 30 years he Never beat anyone his best win is Nelson coming up a former feather weight .he looked great vs guys below him but so do many fighters .

I'd take Duran in this one. I have to agree with the poster who said Whitaker is overrated. As for Duran, I'd take him over any lightweight I've seen except for Ike Williams and Carlos Ortiz. But, I wouldn't be surprised if he beat them too. A peak Joe Brown and Duran would also have been tremendous.