By Chester Rivers: Hall-of-fame boxer Roberto Duran recently stated that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would have been an average fighter had he fought during Duran’s era. He says Mayweather would have been “Just another guy in the bunch.”
Duran feels that the boxers of today are of no comparison to Sugar Ray Leonard, Wilfred Benitez, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns. Duran said that Mayweather’s first fight with Jose Luis Castillo should have been a loss for Floyd and the De La Hoya fight should have been ruled a draw. After reading these statements I had to do a fact check for myself and here’s what I found.
First, the one thing that Leonard, Benitez, Hagler and Hearns all have in common is they all have wins over you Mr. Hands of Stone. In fact, the one fighter of this bunch often compared to Mayweather is Sugar Ray Leonard. Yes, Duran does have a win against Leonard but he also have two losses including an embarrassing “No Mas” rematch that defined the remainder of Duran’s career.
Wilfred Benitez is ranked as the second best defensive welterweight of all time. Who’s ranked number one? You guessed it, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Benitez defeated Duran in January of 1982 for the WBC 154 pound title but it was his success as a welterweight that made him a hall-of-famer.
Thomas “The Hit man” Hearns was known for his one punch knockout power but he was very effective as a boxer. In fact, it was his boxing skills that had him ahead of Leonard on all scorecards before being knocked out late in their 1981 title fight and his power that knocked Duran unconscious in their 1984 title fight. Hearns would hide his powerful right hand behind his left shoulder roll defense. This is a style made famous by a lot of fighters out of the Midwest. Hearns in clearly more powerful than Mayweather but using the straight right behind the left shoulder, Mayweather is extremely effective.
Every sport has that one athlete who is simply better than the rest. Basketball has Lebron James, football Adrian Petersen, soccer Christiano Ronaldo and boxing has Floyd Mayweather Jr. Love him or hate him, Floyd is simply the best of our generation and one of the best of all time.
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