Sugar Ray in the 1940s welter scene

And very slim edge and it is the only one

 

Leonard is quicker and better defensively than Robinson. Robinson was the better puncher and maybe better in combination. Not much between them really

 

Lol

 

I agree Leonard was better defensively. Can't say he was quicker. We dont have much film of Sugar Ray Robinson at 147. Most of the video we have is a middleweight Sugar.

For example..if we only had video of Ali from 1975-80. He's still pretty fast but nowhere near his peak in 1965

 

No, I feel Hearns schooled Leonard but got sloppy, Ray relied on athleticism whereas Hearns had more savvy, he was amazing against the elusive Benitez at 154.

 

I don`t think defense was Robi`s strongest department, he got caught a lot.

 

He had a very good defence but my answer was because he wrote "maybe" he was the better combo puncher. Maybe? He was hands down

 

I see it like this... In one off fights with SRL at his best, he beats everybody except SRR. Which makes sense, since I have him as the no. 2 on my WW h2h list. That said, if he was to fight like the era, and be in that many more fights, I think he could drop a fight or two that he should've won. That can just happen when you're fighting so much. But at his best, he takes everybody imo

 

Lol @ thinking you only have two Sugar Rays in boxing history that you need to specify between.

 

His counter combos were his best defense, it was very hard to hit Robi without getting 5-6 thrown back in response.

 

I feel Napoles had better footwork.

 

So did Ali more significantly so post exile time off and wear effected Ray like anyone we only have film of Robinson past his best, yet with what film we have we still argue if he'd beat SRL with most convinced that Robi would win that should tell you enough.

 

I think Hearns did better when he hurt his right hand against Benitez. It made him fight a more boxing fight and use his jab rather than get reckless and go for the knockout, which he loved to do. He might have scored the knockout, but at times he would get tired and then that gave his opponent those times where they were landing on him and he was trying to get his second wind. When he boxed and looked for the right cautiously. sometimes he had better performances.

 

I think his record would look different fighting at that kind of frequency. The welters and middles of those days fought over a dozen times a year, even once they reached the world ranks. Sometimes they even took fights while still recovering from the wounds of the previous ones. Hard way of life back then... That said I think he still would have been a name of consequence.