Boxing masterclass? - Sugar Ray Leonard

How the **** do you call his clowning, fake Ali shuffle a master class. Fair enough he won but a master class. Some me places he’d have at least been warned by the referee for his tactics. Whether Duran quit or had stomach cramps or what. This isn’t a master class. This is Leonard giving the WBC a huge orgasm.

 

Yeah, big time masterclass. It's one of the most notable fights and results of all time. Any time you get into the ring with Duran and he hardly lays a glove on you, that's a masterclass. I don't care how you did it. He clowned Duran and was pegging him in the face at will. Any revisionist stuff or excuses I don't see as valid. Ray could have done what he did Louisiana in Montreal and we could have avoided the need for a rematch.

He put a clinic on Duran and made him quit, and shamed the man into basically saying he had to take a crap to get out of responsibility of quitting--reminds me of Celtics player Paul Pierce faking a catastrophic injury and having to be wheelchaired off the court because he crapped himself a bit in the game.

"No Mas" is as notable and worthy of a win as Duran's win vs. him easily. The only reason Montreal is favored is because it was the high point of Duran's career and Leonard went on to have higher points and frankly, better wins. Leonard fought Duran's fight and went to the hospital. Duran fought Leonard's fight and had to run off to the restroom. Square biz.

 

Is there a better example of styles make fights than their trilogy? The only time Duran had success was when Leonard fought Duran's fight.

 

Warned for what? He didn’t break any rules.

The clowning was payback for Duran’s antics late in their first fight — tapping his chin while sticking it out and then throwing a jab. The bolo was the same trick, basically.

Is the bolo punch somehow illegal in some places? Or the shuffle? Or lateral movement, lol?

 

As did Benitez.

 

Great post.

 

It was hell of a performance by SRL .. BUT the masterclass boxing was actually the other way around .. How Duran, a natural BW who did his vast majority of work at LW , went up to Ray's weight and beat a Prime SRL .. and Handed him his only loss in 13 years. Well Hearns did also the fight before but that's a different conversation... Yes the rematch was a great performance by SRL .. But no matter how you slice it ,, Duran DID get the best of SRL .. why? He was the better boxer

 

While most of your assessment is correct up to a point. Outside of Hearns 1 look at his other “Better Wins”. Controversial against Hagler. Wins 2 seperate weight titles in 1 fight thanks to his beloved WBC. A very pedestrian rubber match against Duran way overdue. And what should have been a loss to Hearns in an even more overdue rematch.

 

Duran essentially lost an "I Quit" match to Leonard.

 

A masterclass in getting under an opponent's skin, really.

 

Would you say the boxer who won the trilogy and made his opponent quit is indisputably the better boxer?