Middleweight James Toney vs the best of middleweight Roberto Duran

[Rexob]

Toney would whoop a middleweight Duran just to big and skilled.

[littlepug]

Give the edge to Toney but what a fight it would be, Duran was no slouch at middle theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

[elmersalsa]

Two of my favorite boxers, no doubt. But, this is not The Hands of Stone's prime nor weight class. Above 147lbs, it was very difficult for the great Roberto Duran to move like he wanted to. But, fighting inside, was Duran's best suit. But, on the outside, Duran had many problems with guys with speed above 147. It was too much weight to carry for his frame.

James Toney should win because of the weight. Not because of skill. He is not more skilled than Duran, but, he is stronger and faster at 160lbs and above. It's his natural weight class. Duran was a lightweight fighting middleweight boxers.

Toney wins by UD in a great match. It would've been a very entertaining contest for sure.

[BoxBuzz]

Two of my favorite boxers, no doubt. But, this is not The Hands of Stone's prime nor weight class. Above 147lbs, it was very difficult for the great Roberto Duran to move like he wanted to. But, fighting inside, was Duran's best suit. But, on the outside, Duran had many problems with guys with speed above 147. It was too much weight to carry for his frame.

James Toney should win because of the weight. Not because of skill. He is not more skilled than Duran, but, he is stronger and faster at 160lbs and above. It's his natural weight class. Duran was a lightweight fighting middleweight boxers.

Toney wins by UD in a great match. It would've been a very entertaining contest for sure.

I'm not sure I disagree....however....Duran's performance vs Hagler, and Duran vs The guy who put a whuppin on Hearns Twice would not support the theory very well.

Toney beat Barkley when Toney was at his very best....and he did it well......Duran beat Barkley when Duran was not particularly at his best. So that's a bit of a wash in terms of what to learn from it.

[campfire]

Toney would be favourite and Duran would surely be motivated it would be a classic with Toney having the edge going into the Championship rounds
of a 15 rounder Duran counters brilliantly over the final 3 round's to earn a upset 15 round split dec........What a Legend

[hhaehre]

I'd go with Duran. Toney is severely overrated at middleweight. In reality he only had a few really good fights at middleweight, sprinkled in with plenty of mediocre and lackluster performances. If an old McCallum could fight him to a standstill so could Duran and over 15 rounds I'd certainly give Duran the edge.

[keithmoonhangover]

Which Toney? The one that was behind on points against Nunn? The one that 'beat' Dave Tiberi? The one that scraped past Reggie Johnson?

Duran from the Hagler fight could beat that Toney.

[elmersalsa]

Well, if you guys see it that way. Above 147lbs, the great Roberto Duran lacked the movement and speed like when he was in his prime. SPEED, was Duran's most underrated asset. As a matter of fact, SPEED is the key to almost every sport

[davie]

Two of my favorite boxers, no doubt. But, this is not The Hands of Stone's prime nor weight class. Above 147lbs, it was very difficult for the great Roberto Duran to move like he wanted to. But, fighting inside, was Duran's best suit. But, on the outside, Duran had many problems with guys with speed above 147. It was too much weight to carry for his frame.

James Toney should win because of the weight. Not because of skill. He is not more skilled than Duran, but, he is stronger and faster at 160lbs and above. It's his natural weight class. Duran was a lightweight fighting middleweight boxers.

Toney wins by UD in a great match. It would've been a very entertaining contest for sure.

I'm not sure I disagree....however....Duran's performance vs Hagler, and Duran vs The guy who put a whuppin on Hearns Twice would not support the theory very well.

Toney beat Barkley when Toney was at his very best....and he did it well......Duran beat Barkley when Duran was not particularly at his best. So that's a bit of a wash in terms of what to learn from it.

This is the biggest factor for me in this.

Middleweight may not have been his best weight class or the strongest period of his career but if can take Marv so close he beats Toney.
Marvelous Marv would have beaten Toney at any stage, probably quite handily

[keithmoonhangover]

Middleweight may not have been his best weight class or the strongest period of his career but if can take Marv so close he beats Toney.
Marvelous Marv would have beaten Toney at any stage, probably quite handily

Spot on.

[Bricks]

Yes....the 1983 duran was quick and slick he fought very well on the outside ,and his defence was impressive.83 duran beats 93 toney

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I'd go with Duran. Toney is severely overrated at middleweight. In reality he only had a few really good fights at middleweight, sprinkled in with plenty of mediocre and lackluster performances. If an old McCallum could fight him to a standstill so could Duran and over 15 rounds I'd certainly give Duran the edge.

[gilgamesh]

I'd have to agree. Toney was often weight drained and not at his best as a Middleweight. I think Duran could outhustle him down the stretch and win the fight.

The peak 168 version of Toney would've won a decision, I think the peak Middleweight Toney at best fights Duran to a draw.

[Controversial]

theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

You reckon? If it's the footage I've seen its very light sparring and there was no schooling, what footage are you talking about?

[littlepug]

theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

You reckon? If it's the footage I've seen its very light sparring and there was no schooling, what footage are you talking about?

ok then if we gonna split hairs duran bossed the session against a young lively benn

[stevedoc]

theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

You reckon? If it's the footage I've seen its very light sparring and there was no schooling, what footage are you talking about?

duran was over on a paid vacation he wasn't in shape so i wouldn't use that as evidence of how duran was at middleweight ,i almost went to watch it at the time wish i had now

[Controversial]

theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

You reckon? If it's the footage I've seen its very light sparring and there was no schooling, what footage are you talking about?

ok then if we gonna split hairs duran bossed the session against a young lively benn

I'm not splitting hairs, my interpretation of schooling someone is you made them look bad and were far superior to them, thats not what I saw. It was a light sparring session, they both were holding their punches back, if anything Benn looked better than Duran. Sparring means little anyway.

[littlepug]

as im not gonna win this argument lets just say I could tell who the experienced fighter was

[SaadOffTheDeck]

It's just sparring, I will say that Benn appeared to be going close to full steam while Duran was playing around.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

as im not gonna win this argument lets just say I could tell who the experienced fighter was

Incredibly crafty.

[King Carlos]

Toney more often than not. It's not like we can only level the inconsistency argument at him in this matchup. Duran was hardly consistent at this weight himself. Less so than Toney, actually.

For the record, the Toney that fought McCallum the first time was the best Toney I've ever seen. He just happened to have one of his worst performances at the weight, too (Tiberi).

[littlepug]

Thought the Nunn fight was one of toneys best, although behind he was always in the fight and showed incredible poise against a Nunn that was looking back at his best after a drab few years, and that punch to end it would've flattened a horse !

[Bricks]

theres a good video on YouTube of Duran schooling nigel Benn in sparring and looking good doing it

You reckon? If it's the footage I've seen its very light sparring and there was no schooling, what footage are you talking about?

It was like a five minute round and benn was going at the body hard and fast but perhaps not to the head.duran was taking it easy and taking the body shots but did slip a lot of head shots and show some incredibly slick defensive moves and pivots that wowed the crowd

[Controversial]

as im not gonna win this argument lets just say I could tell who the experienced fighter was

It was in 1988 so Benn had only been a pro for 1 year with just 18 fights under his belt, most of them had ended in the 1st or 2nd round. Duran on the other hand had been a pro for 20 years and had around 90 fights under his belt. So yeah Duran was far more experienced.

[littlepug]

as im not gonna win this argument lets just say I could tell who the experienced fighter was

It was in 1988 so Benn had only been a pro for 1 year with just 18 fights under his belt, most of them had ended in the 1st or 2nd round. Duran on the other hand had been a pro for 20 years and had around 90 fights under his belt. So yeah Duran was far more experienced.

Like I said you could tell