Ray Leonard v Tommy Burns

Yeah, to be fair to Burns he was considered only a middleweight at the time. I think at 5'7, his 180 pounds are questionable, but then he was a bit fat probably.
I give him a lot of credit for taking on bigger men. He tried his best as heavyweight title holder and put up a good run of wins.

It looks to be like he carries real power, looks like he has long arms and decent hand speed.
I know Leonard beat Lalonde and nicked a disputed decision against the great Hagler, but I'd pick a lot of the strong, durable, hard-punching middles to flatten him, probably.
So I'll pick Burns.

 

So you say you're not picking Leonard and thus implying you would favour burns, but then pick Leonard and cite hedging as the reason.. lol

 

The problem here, is that when Leonard is in his prime the size gap is wider, and when he is closing the gap he is probably a bit past his best.

Robinson had the same issue in terms of invading the light heavyweight division.

 

Jersey Joe Walcott?

 

He doesn't, he knows of JJW greatness, that's just his way of saying hi to me

 

KuRuPT knows what's up.

And for those reading this who do not understand the way of the message board Leonard has zero chance against Walcott. Zilch. You could spot Leonard the first rounds and he'd still lose.

 

Burns was much faster, stronger, harder hitting and had a much better chin than any LaLonde, especially the weight drained, over confident 168 pound version that fought Leonard. If every possible advantage is not catered to Ray who manipulated conditions like the Mayweather of his day, Tommy at 175 runs him out of the ring. I love Leonard but this is not cherry picking a ripe Hagler.

 

There is no point to having a debate with someone who does not know the content of the topic. Can you name how many heavyweights Donny knocked out ? LaLonde was never known as fast or strong. Talk about being hitable .. He was a one armed nobody that beat no one other than old Middlewights like Czyz and Hamsho and an inconsistent Stewart. No one ever took Donny serious. He was a perfect white stiff for Ray to grab another belt and Ray made him drop down to 168 no less. Burns flattened heavyweights and thrashed an all time great light heavyweight in O'Brien. Again, do some homework.

 

How can fighting the great Marvin Hagler, at the time the undisputed middleweight champion of the world, who had destroyed all challangers put in front of him, be considered cherry picking? Do please explain.

On the topic, Im leaning towards Leonard if it is over 12 or 15 rounds. There is always a chance of Burns catching up with him of course, but I think Ray was fast and slick enough to cruise his way to a decision win.

 

I took he grant's comment to mean Leonard picked the right time to take on Hagler, not a moment too soon, hence "cherry picking a ripe Hagler" .... something Ray Leonard has actually mentioned many times, he waited until he saw Hagler become beatable.

 

Did he ever comment that making the 168 limit had an effect during the Leonard fight?...As far as the hypothetical, I'd pick Leonard by decision...but I judge Leonard to be one of the greatest of all time...which most on this board don't...