More skilled: Pernell Whitaker or Sugar Ray Leonard

Yea but Castillio is not as dangerous as the guys he walked down. The only reason he ran is because that was his natural fighting style. Sorry.

 

lol at a 90 year old Mosley being dangerous.

Dude, he ever ran from ****ing Baldomir. Baldomir.

 

And SRL Ran from the ghost of Hagler LOL Listen lets not go back and forth. The reason Floyd doesnt have to run, is because he is better skillwise. He and Pernell are way more skilled than SRL. Its nothing we can do to change those facts. They are tactical, God-gifted geniuses. It is what it is.

 

But compare Baldomir to Mosley and Ortiz. I think Floyd ran in that fight cuz he hurt his hand or something. He was dominating then all of a sudden he starts running throwing soft jabs. Its as clear as day, that he was dealing with something in that fight. What would make u stop throwing those killer right hands, and just start potshotting with a limp jab? The reason Floyd can stand toe to toe with punchers, is because a defensive wizard will always be much better than a guy like SRL who had no defense. Just relied on footspeed, and Range to help him avoid punches.

 

For what it's worth, I do think Floyd is more skilled than Ray, but let's not pretend he can stand with punchers more than Ray can.

Floyd's specialty is standing with guys that aren't punchers 5-10 years past their primes.

At welterweight, SRL would beat the absolute **** out of Floyd and stop him within 10 rounds.

At other weights, if they were a similar size, he'd merely outpoint him due to his greater offensive arsenal.

 

I am not convinced that Floyd is more skilled than SRL (I am so frequently labled a SRL hater, now I will probably be called a hater of floyd?)? He is quite obviously a more skilled defensive fighter, but I would say SRL is clearly superior on offense. I would even give him an overall edge as far as a blended balance between offense and defense. I wouldn't say there is a big disparity either way, but at WW SRL takes a comfortable decision...

Either way, I have no clue what this has to do with SRL & Pea....Perhaps a certain Floyd fan should start a new thread where his opinions can expressed within the parameters of the thread????

 

Wrong, Ortiz was not past his prime. SRL would have fought him like he did in the rematch. SRL didnt take chances against anyone with power. Ray cant stand with punchers at ALL cuz he doesnt have defense. He is FORCED to run, because running IS his defense. SRL couldnt beat Floyd at ww, or even come close. The reason is because Floyd has great defense and accuracy. SRL couldnt land a jab on Duran at ww, what makes u think he can land ANYTHING ON Floyd? its just not possible. With his lack of defense, Floyd counters everything, lands wherever he wants. I mean its a regular Floyd White Wash. Hagler could absolutely beat Floyd, cuz he would do what Cotto did, PLUS some. Herns can test Floyd, but why? Because of his combination of Jab and Height. Unfortunately for Herny-boy, Floyd has fought plenty of tall fighters before and their height advantage really does nothing. Herns lost to SRL Who isnt half as slick as Floyd. Floyd would follow his gameplan and have that dummy befuddled and confused. Also, SRL has a plus minus of 15. Floyd at his prime, landed 46% of his punches, his opponents landed 16%. His plus minus is plus-30. Mismatch, yea I know.

 

What made his offense stood out? Every fighter throws punches. The fact that he threw punches, made him a great offensive fighter? I look at Pac's offense in his prime, and I say THAT is GREAT. Throwing thousands of punches. SRL's offense is no different from any other fighter, NOT named Pacman. He is not more balanced than Floyd, because his offense is something ordinary. His defense is non-existent. He had no defense, he relied solely on his range, and footspeed to avoid punches. I dont think he is even close to Floyd as far as skills go. Ward is more skilled than SRL, Cuz Ward is a great balance of Defense and Offense. SRL is form an older era and back then they werent this advanced Im afraid.

 

This may be the worst post ever in all of ESB. Ray didn't take chances against Hearns? Really?

 

Whitaker. Leanord's skills never truly mesmerized me. He's a great fighter, obviously very skilled. I always thought his insane athleticism and tremendous smarts and guts triumphed his skill-set on an absolute ATG level of sorts. He was incredibly well-rounded in those skills, though to be fair.

 

I'll bite.

Benitez comes to mind as a defensive fighter. He whipped him, and it wasn't just the speed that did it.

Leonard would run from Mosley? He wouldn't need to. Mosley would be right there. Mosley doesn't have one conceivable advantage over Leonard. Not one. Mosley is basically a poor man's Leonard, but a full level or two lower. Leonard would counter the crap out of Mosley.

Cotto would try to box Leonard and get beat at that. I doubt Cotto would last more than 8 rounds or so.

And when does Floyd walk anyone down? Leonard's skills weren't superior? Why is he mentioned among the greats then? What am I missing?

Guys like Ortiz are made to order for Leonard. Inexperienced and can't put their advantages together. I knew Ortiz would be out of ideas by round 4 in the fight with Floyd. It didn't even take that long.

Leonard would produce a highlight reel knockout of Ortiz, and he wouldn't need Ortiz to be looking the other direction to do it.

If you watch Pernell fight, he does stand in the pocket some, but he moves quite a bit. It isn't smart to stand in front of someone capable of knocking you out if you have the option to move. He got on his bike plenty. Don't make it sound like he just stood in front of people the whole time, making them miss... He moved like hell, and at the same time, put great offense together.

The first fight between Duran and Leonard is a great action, high-contact fight. He got lured into a brawl. He underestimated Duran. He lived and learned.

If you have power and that's the only advantage you have over your opponent, yes, it may be in your best interest to make it a dogfight. That doesn't mean you'll be successful.

The bolded illustrates your folly. You talk about how Leonard foolishly banged with Duran and "got his azz whooped". Then you say Leonard wouldn't be fool enough to do anything but run for his life against Monster Mosley, The Butcher Cotto, and Toughkid Ortiz?

I've actually seen that fight. They both adjusted and both boxed. Both banged. In fact, it was Hearns who won the battle of boxing, and it was Leonard who ultimately won when he started coming forward, going toe-to-toe and banging with Hearns... Wow.

I wonder how much you've actually seen Floyd fight... He rarely, if ever, comes forward. He's the runner. Not Leonard.

Again, he "let little Duran beat on thadazz"....? Duran was quite a monster.

And keep in mind, Hearns and Duran, the two fighters in question as Leonard's opponents, are so much better than Mosley, Cotto, and Ortiz that it's embarassing for you I even have to point this out...

So why do you keep citing his getting his "azz" beat against Duran by going toe-to-toe? You're contradicting yourself. And remember Leonard went back and forth in strategies against Hearns between boxing and banging... And Hearns is about the most dangerous guy you could choose to do that with, mind you...

I would love for you to watch Duran vs Leonard I. It is really a good fight. From your comments, I doubt you've seen it.

The second fight as well. I seriously doubt you've seen that one either.

 

He ran from hearns, and once he seen he could hurt him, he began coming forward.

 

Coming forward against Hearns wasn't a risk?