Yeah, Lucci is strong. Easily on par with first mates, possibly above several of them.
The problem to me is that time is running out until EoS. We see that Luffy has reached nearly the peak of his power, now being able to give pretty much any fighter a run for their money
But on the other hand you have Zoro, who still has a decent road ahead of him and yet he's still out here getting matched against dudes who won't help him grow
I think you’re jumping the gun a bit
Luffy isn’t anywhere near the peak of his power. He gasses out after 15 minutes and is pretty much useless afterwards. If he fought someone like Primebeard, Roger, or any other legendary top tier he’d be toast
He still has quite a ways to go before he’s truly reached his peak. Zoro and the rest of the Strawhats are exactly the same in this regard
Zoro has
at least 2-3 more full fights left before the series ends. Potential Elbaf opponent (not confirmed) -> Shiryu -> Admiral/Gorosei/Mihawk
That’s more than enough for him to reach his peak strength wise. Training and upgrades also take place in between battles
He could train his conqueror’s in Elbaf, he could get a new sword, etc
The gap between Zoro and Mihawk is big but it isn’t as big as you think it is
A few more powerups and he’s there