Tony Bellew says Roberto Duran was unbeatable as a lightweight

Tony Bellew believes Roberto Duran would have beaten every fighter in boxing history at lightweight. The former WBC cruiserweight champion made the assessment while discussing a possible meeting between Duran and Floyd Mayweather.

Bellew focused on Duran’s 135-pound version rather than the fighter who later competed at welterweight and above. He argued that Duran’s pressure, strength and dominance during his lightweight years would have been too much for any historical opponent, including Mayweather.

Duran lost only once in his first 73 professional bouts. That defeat came against Esteban De Jesus, another lightweight, but Duran later defeated him twice to reverse the result and take their three-fight series.

His notable lightweight victories included wins over Ken Buchanan, Hector Thompson and Ray Lampkin. Those performances remain among the defining results of his career, while his other 15 defeats came after he had moved beyond the lightweight division.

Mayweather also held the WBC lightweight title, winning it on his first appearance in the division against Jose Luis Castillo. He made three defences before moving up, having previously become a major star as a super-featherweight during the more aggressive phase of his career.

Mayweather ended his professional career unbeaten after 50 contests, but Bellew still ranks Duran above him in a hypothetical lightweight comparison. Duran’s eight-year reign as world lightweight champion, from 1917 to 1925, remains the longest in the division’s history. Modern fighters’ tendency to move between weight classes makes that mark difficult to surpass.