Respected trainer, commentator and fight analyst, Teddy Atlas, once made his prediction for a fight between Panamanian legend Roberto Duran and American superstar Floyd Mayweather.<\/p>\n
Duran won titles in four weight divisions, claiming honours at lightweight, welterweight, super-welterweight and middleweight during a 119-fight professional career that spanned between 1968 and 2001.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mayweather retired undefeated with an iconic record of 50-0, having ruled at all five weights between super-featherweight and super-welterweight, with his defensive wizardry making him difficult to damage and therefore defeat throughout his time in the ring.<\/p>\n
However, on his YouTube channel<\/a>, Atlas picked out one of Mayweather\u2019s closest shaves when discussing how \u2018TBE\u2019 would have fared against Duran, recalling the time he was ran close by Mexico\u2019s Jos\u00e9 Luis Castillo.<\/p>\n \u201cFloyd had a tough fight with Castillo, a tough fight, two of \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people thought he [Castillo] won the fight, it was a very close decision. The first one, had some controversy attached to it, tough fight. Everyone\u2019s had a tough fight, I could pick them out of Duran too but I\u2019m saying that, if he [Mayweather] had a tough fight like that with Castillo, OK, Duran is not Castillo.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not knocking Castillo at all, he is a good, solid guy but he\u2019s not Duran.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, Atlas then went on to remember how Duran dealt with an elite boxer in Ken Buchanan back in 1972, when he knocked out the Scotsman to first get his hands on a world title<\/a> and truly announce himself to the world of boxing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was body work and it was relentlessness [that helped Duran beat Buchanan] and we wouldn\u2019t have beat such a good boxer [without it]. We talk about Mayweather, he was a great boxer, he is a great boxer, well Buchanan was a tremendous boxer and Duran did what he had to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Those two bouts provided Atlas with enough insight into how a match-up between Duran and Mayweather would have unfolded, as he ultimately determined that Duran would have come out on top.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to go with Duran pushing the fight, in control and being the boss, a little bit. I\u2019m not saying that Floyd is going to be relegated to just surviving, but a little bit more surviving than fighting and at the end of the day, I\u2019m going to go with Duran by unanimous decision.\u201d<\/p>\n