P4P: How do you rank Pernell Whitaker, Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr or Floyd?

Was there ever a single fighter who held all the qualities of all four men? It's hard to rate which fighter is/was the better man because they have never fought one another. Floyd once mention he sparred with Sweet pea before. I would have love to see that. Either of these fighters would have gave the other a puzzle to solve in the ring.

 

:good

 

1. Ray Leonard/Pernell Whitaker
2.Roy Jones Jr
3.Floyd Mayweather Jr

 

SRL
Whitaker
Jones
Mayweather

Jones swaps places with Whitaker if he retires after Ruiz

 

In terms of greatness:

Pea
Leonard
Jones
Floyd

In terms of h2h:

Pea
Jones
Leonard
Mayweather

 

One of the very few posters on here whose opinions I admire to have this opinion luf. Why is that if I haven't asked before?

 

Sugar
Pea
FLoyd
Rjj
Floyd over Roy,,,Boxing fundamentals go a long way once speed, quickness/reflexes starts to diminish.

 

If Roy had retired after the first W over Tarver, he would be at the top.
ANd sorry I don't think FMJ is in the same league as the others, again thinking of Prime Roy.

In many ways, Whitaker was the most special. And got robbed several times because of that!

Whitaker
SRL
Roy (career, not Prime Roy)

 

Pea from 87-97 basically ruled boxing (one close fight with rivera aside) he cleaned up at lw and then had a very good run between 140 and 154 missing only tito and ike but by 96 I don't think many classed him as the best in the ww division, even that aside he still beat rivera in the rematch, stopped hurtado and deserved to beat oscar (my cards).

Leonard was brilliant, but only for 3 years. After that he has 1 win of note against marvin in maybe the greatest comeback in boxing history before wasting his career on money fights.

Based on body of work I have to place pea above and infact these to are very close in my overall list, sometimes they're next to each other in the top 20 as there isn't much between them: both are tremendous ability wise; leonard has 4 amazing victories but no longevity whereas pea has a lot of very good victories and a decade of elite level longevity.

I think it's crucial to state I had pea beating everyone he fought apart from tito.

 

1. Roy-P4P he's unmatched by any on this list. Started at 154 and won a heavyweight strap. Undisputed LHW champ.
2.Ray
3. Whitaker/Mayweather

 

1. RJJ
2. SRL (butvery close to RJJ)


3. Pernell Whitaker
4. Floyd Mayweather, (real close).



Keith

 

97 is a stretch.

95 was the last time Whitaker looked dominating.

In 95-96 Jones overtook him as P4P№1.

 

Agreed. Whitaker's prime ended with the Vasquez fight.

 

Been a while since i watched those fights - wasn't Whitaker still prime in Jacobs and Rodriguez fights?

 

I currently (I switch them around, as I think about it from different angles, like a lot of list-makers) have it:

SRL clearly above the others, somewhere around the ten-fifteen spot:

RJJ
Whitaker (they've been flipped the other way on my list, and I find them hard to rate against each other)

Floyd, clearly below them. That said, there's a lot said for letting time pass, and seeing what opponents end up doing or not doing. All Floyd has to do is take Pacquiao, and his resume gets a sizable boost, as I expect victory, and he's getting a lot closer to the other group, I think. If he beat Pac at welter and Martinez at 154-160, before Martinez drops the ball, which I don't expect him to attempt, he goes way up to Whitaker and RJJ and I won't hesitate a bit to put him up there, and maybe even above.