Is Mayweather More Skilled Then Sugar Ray Leonard?

Perhaps later career Floyd, and even then I believe that is more of an over statement/generality....he is a brilliant counter puncher.....wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to get baited into another style fight. Although earlier in his career I do feel he was willing to take more risks than he is today.

I don't particularly care for either guy, so in my unbiased opinion I feel the difference is negligible. It is also hard to answer as everyones criteria of skill varies. Both were brilliant masterful technicians in their day, and for the most used their skills to maximum efficiency.

 

both are skilled, difference is Leonard had more power and natural speed of combination where I think Floyd has the tighter defense, however Floyd never had to fight a Duran, a Hearns or a Hagler or anyone close

 

Mayweather definitely did not fight that defensively earlier in his career. If one watches his fights against Hernandez, N'dou, Gatti, Corrales etc. then it's clear to see that he was not defensive in these fights.

As his punching power has diminished going up the weight classes (relatively speaking) and he has been fighting naturally bigger, stronger guys he has become more of a clever pot-shotting type of fighter, but he did let his hands go more and was more aggressive at the lower weights.

 

agreed

 

Only because he got robbed, it must be pointed out.

Also, the man he beat to advance into the bronze match, Lorenzo Aragón, is probably a greater h2h obstacle than any of those Leonard beat en route to gold. (Carlsson, Limasov, McKenzie, Beyer, Szczerba, Aldama)

Had the universally criticized decision been replaced by honest scoring, Mayweather and Leonard would have the following Olympic resumes.

Mayweather @ featherweight in '96
RO64 (obsolete): N/A
RO32: Tileganov - KO
RO16: Gevorgyan - PTS
Quarterfinal: Aragón - PTS
Semifinal: Todorov - PTS*
Gold match: Kamsing - PTS? (presumably, although Kamsing was no slouch...)

Leonard @ light welterweight in '76
RO64 (obsolete): Carlsson - PTS
RO32: Limasov - PTS
RO16: McKenzie - PTS
Quarterfinal: Beyer - PTS
Semifinal: Szczerba - PTS
Gold match: Aldama - PTS


Leonard's path was much tougher? :think

What made that half a dozen more daunting than Mayweather's five? Or, hell, let's even restrict it to his latter four and throw out Tileganov who got beaten to a pulp. Gevorgyan was a 2-time Olympian, as was Todorov, as was Aragón (who ranks among Cuba's all time greats but flies under the rada: http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=456941). Kamsing fought in three Olympic Games. Their combined resumes are fairly impressive and they were all known world class commodities. I won't pretend to be all that knowledgeable of the seventies international amateur scene, but do the guys Leonard outpointed really stack up?

I think you do have to favor Leonard, but this might be a little extreme.

 

Pure Gold Philly! :yep It may be him he does have multiple accounts!

 

Good points, quite true...

 

No......

 

Mayweather has the tighter defense but Ray Leonard was a more skilled offensive fighter. Sugar Ray Leonard had better footwork in my view. He was able to change gears/styles better than Floyd can. Thats a skill as well.

Slight edge to Leonard.

 

...still waiting to hear the fantastic exploits of Carlsson, Limasov, McKenzie, Beyer, Szczerba, or Aldama...besides showing up in Montreal and becoming footnotes in a great boxer's history.

(which one would think we already would hear about quite often, if their mettle and not the mere fact of getting the gold itself were the fundamental pillar of why '76 helped build the legacy of SRL even before he turned pro... :think)

 

I think that Mayweather is better at what Mayweather does, but Leonard is more versatile. I think that if Hearns was going "Motor City Cobra" (and not Hitman) on Mayweather, using that reach to pile up points against him as he did against Leonard, I don't think Mayweather gets it done. I'm not saying that Hearns necessarily wins that fight; just saying that if a major adjustment were necessary to win the fight for Floyd, then I don't think it's coming.

 

Double post. Love that iPad.

 

After a first round bye, Andres Aldama had knockout wins in all four of his matches leading up to his match against Leonard in the finals. Ray dropped Aldama and won by shutout to win the gold. Aldama returned to the olympics four years later (after Leonard was gone) and won gold.

On the other hand, Floyd squeaked by most of his opponents in the olympics, and lost in the semi final to Torodaov who lost his next fight to Kamsing Somluck. (This was not only Kamsing Somluck's only gold, it was his only medal period in two olympics)

Floyd had an excellent amateur record of 84-6.

Ray had a far superior record of 145-5.

The facts speak for themselves.

 

I would give the edge to Mayweather. Physically Sugar Ray Leonard was more gifted, though. As a fighter, SRL was more balanced and complete. Floyd has fewer options when challenging bigger men -- less chin, blunt force, and variety on offense -- and has been more careful in selecting opponents.

Both men were/are absolutely brilliant.

 

Great! Over whom? ...and why did knocking those people out matter?

Great! Aside from what you mentioned above, remind me why Aldama was special?

Wow! 2-time Olympian, eh? That's pretty snazzy. Kind of like Lorenzo Aragón, Serafim Todorov, and Artur Gevorgyan. Not quite as many trips as Somluck Kamsing, but hey, all the people can't have all the luck. Some people can have Somluck.

In those '80 games, aside from Mugabi (which admittedly is something to write home about) who else did Aldama beat? Was that overall a "much tougher" welter field than feather in '96?

That's patently false, actually. He was run close by the great Lorenzo Aragón but still clearly beat him. He didn't "squeak by" anybody else. He was as dominant as Leonard had been in '76. (and, once again, I'd posit that Aragón > any of those guys, pound for pound)

Officially, but come on. That was a Jones vs. Park Si Hun type loss.

Right, in a match that should by rights have been Mayweather vs. Kamsing and which only would have improved Mayweather's Olympic resume even more if he was victorious as Kamsing - like Mayweather - is clearly superior to Todorov.

ONE gold medal? :-( What a bum!!

Three.

...all 150 of them supreme beasts who could wipe out today's pro welterweight division, right? Meanwhile all 90 of Mayweather's amateur opponents were probably cab drivers?

Yeah, let's see if two can play at this game.

Ray has an excellent pro record of 36-3-1.

Floyd has a far superior record of 45-0.

Yes, two can!

They would, if you let them and didn't manipulate them so as to suit your agenda.