@Cin Thanks for taking the time to provide a detailed response, makes this more interesting.
>>From what we've seen, the Yonko's top commander is impressive enough to fight off an Admiral, even if they are not exactly on the same level as them. Rayleigh went toe-to-toe with Kizaru, but it was very obvious he was gradually losing the fight due to his age, and inability to do more than match Kizaru for a brief amount of time.
I actually disagree somewhat with this scaling. Kizaru was paired three times with First Mates and all three times he was matched or made to look
weaker.
Against Kizaru he matched him in speed, swordsmanship, power. That said, Kizaru was the one who took the only damage. Kizaru has far worse stamina and would likely lose a long fight, but if he can take Kizaru down earlier through power or Goken it doesn't matter. Still he has the weakest feats of the three.
Marco intercepted Kizaru's light-spd attk and took it twice. Neither time doing any lasting damage and the second time not even slowing him down. Base for base he overpowered Kizaru in strength when he pushed him back and Kizaru stayed far away, even calling on air support. Yes, Marco didn't inflict any major damage on him but realistically I wouldn't expect him to when Kizaru did react in time to
block it.
Against Benn he just gave up- don't need to say much here
So all of that together, while I don't always like equalization, it does appear all the first mates are at least comparable to Kizaru if not stronger. Katakuri
could be different.
He could be quite weaker for all we know.
He could also be considerably stronger as could King. Hence equalization seems the most likely to just say he is around equal.
>>I see this fight being very even with neither taking a single blow due to both's incredible agility and Haki capabilities. Katakuri would be spamming his Awakening and Rayleigh would be deftly avoiding each strike and coming within inches of a solid strike on Katakuri, and they would be at an impasse for quite some time--minutes to possibly even hours if Rayleigh can perform that long.
I think you are exaggerating Rayleigh's speed here. You just mentioned that if a difference exists it is by an insignificant margin. Rayleigh would have to be considerably way above Katakuri in stats to make up for his obvious handicaps. For all we know, Katakuri could be stronger via his age.
Unlike Luffy, he cannot fly. We've yet to see anyone manage to fight an awakened user who didn't have flight. Realistically Rayleigh gets stuck and drowns quick
Also unlike Luffy, Ray does not have a body which can expand as much as he wants. Luffy got out of his situation by eating the mochi till he swelled up but Silvers does not have that option
Luffy also has blunt force resistance VS Silvers would bruise, break, bleed etc against all the hits he takes
Yes, he is taking hits. Even with Future sight Luffy took hits from Katakuri and sorry but for the moment Silvers does NOT have confirmed future sight.
Don't forget Katakuri has fantastic array of ranegd attacks and area control plus the ability to heighten his stats through mass.
As far as Goken is concerned, I'd wait to see it actually be used meaningfully in combat before I'd cal it a high tier 1-KO killer. Not to say it wouldn't damage Katakuri if it connects, but as Kaakuri is very good at dodging and will be putting the pressure on Silvers the whole time and he could fight though his organ damage I'm not in agreeance Silvers can just 1-KO him so easily.