I got a question about this too: Were people saying that Leonard was trying to cherry pick a smaller guy?
Southpaw Adolfo Viruet was their only common opponent prior to Montreal, so his projection of the event was widely sought. He'd dropped decisions to both, Duran in April 1978, and Ray just under a year later. (SRL became the only opponent to ever deck him in competition.) Keeping in mind the heat between Duran and the Viruet brothers, Adolfo did provide an interesting analysis and comparison of the two. Being a back away southpaw, he said that Ray was harder to stay away from. "I say the decision goes to Leonard," was his conclusion before Montreal.
Leonard ducked the other reigning Welter Champion Pipino Cuevas to fight the smaller Duran .....and quickly found out "Big Mistake".
