BoxRec

At their best at lightweight, Duran would batter Ortiz, who would fight for survival and the Hands of Stone take a decision in 15 rounds after nailing him with heavy punches. Had Duran fought Ortiz on the undercard of the rematch of Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson in September 1972 rather than Buchannan facing Ortiz, the Hands of Stone would batter Ortiz for a 5th round TKO win. What do you guys think?

At their peaks, it's Ortiz for me. He'd nail Duran with that great left hook-much better than Dejesus' hook. In 1972, Duran stops Ortiz. I have Ortiz and Ike Williams ahead of Duran. A peak Joe Brown third Duran fourth. I wish I could have seen Bob Montgomery.

As great both Carlos Ortiz and "Old Bones" Joe Brown were, the majority of the historians would rank them below Duran and they both were top 10 lightweights of all time at best. I would rank the Hands of Stones, Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker, "The Ghetto Wizard" Benny Leonard and "The Old Master" Joe Gans above Ortiz and Brown.

Also Imo, you underestimate Duran as just the powerful puncher, but you may forget that he was also a great counterpuncher. Look at Duran's fight with Buchannan and the last 2 fights with De Jesus. Duran would pressure the prime "Old Bones" down and neutralize his defense and so would the prime Carlos Ortiz as he would stop "Old Bones" in 13 and decision Ortiz. Also, Duran had a great chin at lightweight. To me with all due respect Carlos Ortiz and "Old Bones" were hard to rank in top 10 lightweights of all-time because of the resume Duran and the other 3 I just mentioned and also Ike Williams.

Roberto Duran wins by decision over the great Carlos Ortiz.