Boxing fans: It's been a while since I've put one of these together, but due to the fact that there's not that much going on right now in boxing and there's certainly no huge fights on the horizon, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss a mythical Dream Fight. In this match up, Hall of Famer Roberto Duran (103-16 with 70 KO's), the man who many believe is the greatest Lightweight of all time, will go up against arguably the greatest defensive fighter of all time who never tasted defeat: Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0 with 26 KO's).
Now before I break down this fight, a couple of things need to be established. The first obstacle was determining what weight class would this fight take place at. Obviously, Duran was at his absolute best at 135lbs and Floyd was an all-time great at 130lbs. I believe based on the fact that there's only a 5 pound difference (and because I'm not a fan of catch weight fights), this fight should be for Duran's Undisputed Lightweight Title. The second thing was determining if this fight should scheduled for 12 or 15 rounds. Duran went 15 rounds countless times in his career while Mayweather never has fought for 45 minutes in a fight, For a fight of this magnitude, this fight should be scheduled for 15.
And one last thing: Even though this fight will be fought at 135 lbs, this is a fight where both of them are at their best but also that means they will both bring all their knowledge and experience fighting all their past opponents with them.
Pre-Fight Hype
Both Duran and Mayweather were masters of trash talking and psychological warfare. Before Duran faced Sugar Ray Leonard in Montreal, Duran made some crude comments about Leonard's wife and Leonard abandoned his original game plan. Big mistake. Advantage: Duran. And before Floyd's fight with Oscar De La Hoya, he made fun of Oscar every chance he got and Oscar clearly was bothered by it. The trash talking between those two would be EPIC, in fact, the pre-fight interviews might be almost as exiting as the actual fight.
Here's an hypothetical exchange between Mayweather and Duran:
Floyd: "They call Roberto Duran the Hands of Stone. I'm not accusing him of cheating, but I want the boxing commissioners to make sure that Duran's hands are legally wrapped."
Duran (in Spanish): "F U Floyd, you're always making excuses. I've never cheated the game. I once knocked out a horse with my bare hands and after I destroy you, the reporters will say I knocked out a clown who beats up women!"
Floyd: "Hey Roberto, most sportswriters say you're the greatest Lightweight of all-time and they say you were unbeatable, but you won the title by throwing an obvious low blow vs Ken Buchanan, you lost to Esteban De Jesus (in a non-title fight) and you never beat a Hall of Famer when you were Lightweight Champion. You QUIT against Leonard, you lost to Kirkland F'N Lang and Tommy Hearns put you to sleep!"
Duran: "Sure, I lost to De Jesus, but I stopped him twice after that. As for Leonard and Hearns, you couldn't carry their spit bucket and you would have ducked both of them, not to mention Hagler or Benitez. And you forgot to mention that I BEAT Sugar Ray Leonard when he was at his best. Yes, I didn't win all my fights, but unlike you, I NEVER ducked ANYONE! Guys like myself, Leonard, Hearns, Hagler and Benitez paved the way for guys like you and you wouldn't have been more than a mid-carder if you fought in my era!"
Keys to the fight:
Mayweather
Establish his jab to the head and especially to the chest. Floyd's an underrated body puncher and his most effective body shot is his jab to the chest as his opponents come after him. The jab to the chest saps opponents energy and in this fight, he has to do something to slow Duran down, especially if this fight goes into the championship rounds.
Be more active offensively. Sometimes Floyd is too cautious and is too defensive minded. Going up against the Hands of Stone, Floyd must be willing to exchange with Duran while he's pressed against the ropes and when he's in he center of the ring, Floyd should counter Duran's jab with his Ali-like, counter right lead.
Duran
Force Mayweather into the ropes and do what you do best--maul and brawl with him. Duran has a very good jab and he was very good defensively, but Duran is at his best when he man-handles his opponents. Roberto was great at cutting off the ring and trapping his opponents in the ropes and smothering them with a barrage of effective punches. In order to beat this defensive wizard, he must do this vs Mayweather.
End every combination with a left hook, either to the head or body. Floyd often moves backwards when he's under attack and while his shoulder-roll defense is very effective, I believe Duran could be successful landing some meaningful left hooks and also wear Floyd down with his body shots.
The Fight
The first three rounds would be a fast-paced chess match with Floyd gaining an advantage. The two would fight mainly from the center of the ring with Floyd beating Duran to the punch with jabs to the head and chest and counter shots. Near the end of the third round, Floyd starts to taunt Duran, and even lands a Kid Gavilan-bolo punch that excites the crowd, but at the same time, it ticks off Duran. (Floyd: 30-27)
In the 4th round, Duran steps up the pace, forcing Mayweather into the ropes and keeping him there with accurate body shots and combinations. Floyd would land the occasional counter right lead, but Duran's work-rate would carry him through rounds 4 and 5 and give him the advantage. Near the end of the 6th round, Duran sticks out his chin and invites Floyd to hit him. Floyd misses badly with a right lead and Duran lands a counter-left hook that stuns Floyd as the round comes to an end. Mayweather wobbles back to his corner on shaky legs. (Even: 57-57)
Believing Floyd hasn't fully recovered from round 6, Duran comes right after Floyd in the center of the ring out for blood in the 7th, but this will prove to be a mistake. While lunging towards Floyd near the ropes, Mayweather catches Duran with a check-left hook that drops him to the canvas. Duran jumps up at the count of 3, now angry and slightly embarrassed that he got caught coming in recklessly. Floyd realizes that Duran is not seriously hurt, so he doesn't go for the KO, but he does win the round by out-boxing Duran and beating him to the punch. (Floyd: 67-65)
While winning rounds 8-9, Floyd begins to get a little over-confident, talking to Duran, fighting with his hands down and daring him to hit him. Huge mistake. Early in the 10th round, Duran catches Floyd with a bodacious, counter right hand that buckles his knees. Floyd stumbles back into the ropes and Duran follows him and lands another right hand followed with a hard left hook that knocks Floyd down. Mayweather gets up at the count of 5, but his legs are shaky and he's clearly hurt. Duran steps up the intensity and goes for the KO, but Floyd survives the round by grabbing and holding Duran as he got close to him. A HUGE round for Duran. The 11th round is ALL Duran, all the time. Midway through the round, Duran stuns Floyd again with a powerful right hand that almost dropped him and referee Carlos Padilla takes a real good look at Floyd, as if he was thinking of possibly stopping the fight but Floyd manages to survive Duran's attack. Another huge 10-8 round for the Hands of Stone. (Even:103-103)
Going into the 12th round, Duran's confidence is at an all-time high while Floyd has recovered from the whipping Duran laid on him in rounds 10-11. Duran is relentless, throwing punches with bad intentions while Floyd is defending well and landing some counter right hands and uppercuts when they fight in close. This was a close round, but Floyd landed the cleaner, more effective shots, so he wins the 12th. Even though Mayweather never fought 15 rounds before, he seems to have fully recovered from Duran's power shots and he seems to have found his second wind, while Duran started to show signs of slowing down just a little bit. Floyd takes command and wins rounds 13-14 by out-working Duran, scoring with fast combinations and keeping the fight in the center of the ring.
In the 15th and final round, Duran goes all-out and tries to do everything he can to knock Mayweather out. Midway through the round, Duran rocks Floyd with a vicious right uppercut that staggers him, but Floyd would recover and respond with a vicious right hand that knocked out Duran's mouthpiece. Duran absorbed the shot as if he was shaking off rainwater an he proceeded to attack Mayweather with ruthless aggression while keeping him pinned against the ropes. Near the end of the round, Floyd manages to escape the ropes and for the last 10 seconds of the round and avoids Duran by dancing around the ring. As the bell sounds to end the fight, both guys believe they won, but it was clear Duran won the final round.
The Winner
Here's Michael Buffer the announcement:
Ladies and Gentlemen.....We have a Majority Decision... Judge Duane Ford scored the fight 141-141, a Draw. Judge Harold Lettermen and Jerry Roth both score the fight 142-140 for the WINNER....AND..NEW... Undisputed Lighweight Champion of the World....FLOYD...MONEY....MAYWEATHER.
RC'S Scorcard (142-140 Mayweather)
In the post-fight interviews, Mayweather said Duran was his toughest opponent he's ever fought, but he believes he won the fight while Duran believes he was robbed and that Floyd couldn't beat any of the guys in his era.
So there you have it folks. I know many boxing fans that will disagree with me, but that's what makes the sport of Boxing such a great sport.
Let the debate begin!!
