Is Sugar Ray Leonard the best fighter ever?

you dont need 100+ fights but 39?

I dissagree that Hearns was an atg by 1981. by 1984 maybe but by the time he and leonard met, he'd had 3 defenses against only minor opposition in just 13 months

Hagler was at the end of his career and never fought again. and Duran was a lightweight who jumped two divisions to also beat Leonard

that's why I'm saying he shouldve had those fights with Pryor in 83, and Curry sometime 1984 - 85. Then his resume wouldnt be so weak and he wouldnt have this problem

 

Leonard definitely an outstanding fighter, with some great wins against great fighters and was colourful, charismatic and great to watch.
But best of all time?
Difficult to make a case for rating him above ali, Louis, duran, Armstrong, robinson et al.
Great wins but never faced all comers.
He picked and chose too much to be compared with the gladiators who fought all challengers, big punching southpaws, brawlers, boxers, dangermen, bogeymen, cleaned out divisions, etc etc.
The finish on the leonard cake is dazzling, but once you cut inside you find its tasty enough, but not the best there is.

 

Fair point, but I'm certainly going to take into account activity when deciding who the best ever is. If someone fights 50-60 more fight than someone else and wins the vast majority of these fights against tough opponents, then if the skill level is similar to the guy who doesn't do this, I'm going to reward the busier fighter. I'm certainly not going to punish him.

 

I agree completely with every last word you said. Leonard has a "quality" resume. But too few fights to be compared to the men you listed.

 

A definite no.

By any standard he is a monster in the sport. But there are some behemoths that will never fall from their pedestal simply because the sport has changed, and the crazy things they did are no longer attempted, wise or even possible since your opponents won't oblige you by fighting sick, injured, or sixty times a year against good opposition.

Greb, Robinson, Armstrong and Langford did amazing things, and the likes of what they did will never be seen again.

A different time.

 

I agree about Roy too...

 

Leonard had his measure after the first fight. He would have won every fight after that no matter how many times they would have fought.

 

He was retired during this period, apart from the one fight comeback against Howard that convinced him to re-retire.

 

Maybe you need to increase your boxing DVD collection...

 

Who did Leonard cherry-pick?

Other than Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and Benitez, Leonard doesn't have many top fighters on his resume.

 

That's a fantastic résumé by it's self!

 

I never said it wasn't.

 

Your posts are always stupid.

You list a bunch of the best fighters ever and then say 'Leonard doesn't have many great names on his list', sarcasm or not?

Same way you post a thread saying (for example) 'who was quicker? Roy or Tyson?' Someone will say Roy and you'll disagree.

 

Oh, and Leonard IS one of the very best ever. He had every took you'd ever need to win a fight, both physically and mentally.

I'd favour him over ANYONE at 147 and against most H2H/P4P. Phenomenal fighter.

 

No, dumbass, I said OTHER than Hearns, Hagler, Duran, and Benitez, Leonard doesn't have many great names on his list.

Name some noteworthy fighters Leonard fought OTHER THAN THE FOUR I JUST LISTED.