Montreal Leonard vs the Welter Greats.

Hearns would have destroyed Ray if he went toe to toe from the start and not after hurting Hearns like he did in the 6th, SRR wouldn`t have battered him, Benitez may have outpointed him, RAy stood off Benitez wary of his fast counters, Benitez was better in the pocket than Ray, Bud Crawford would have destroyed him inside,

 

Actually I think this may have been Ray's greatest fight even though he lost.

 

Not sure about that, when punches were exchanged throughout that fight Ray came out better, Tommy dominating from longer range. Like Angelo Dundee said beforehand "Ray will be the puncher in this one".

 

Tommy dominated the fight until he got caught in the 6th, Ray had the better chin but no way could he take the amount of shots from Tommy that he took from Duran.

 

Robinson, and Leonard would probably agree

 

Duran for me put the final finishing touch on SRL, more from the mental side than anything. I can't think of any Welterweight greats that would get Ray as far out of his comfort zone as Duran. It was a pure masterstroke. Knowing innately that his best chance was to have Leonard engage and also knowing/suspecting, somehow, that he, the smaller man, was likely to come out on top was a little bit unworldly TBF.

So i'd favor SRR but there's no-one else i would out and out favor. Guys like Napoles, Gavilan, Griffith, Burley and Armstrong might be able to be debated to even money or just short of it.

 

Hi Buddy.
Interesting when two people/posters assess a fight completely differently, I don't see the fight as a " masterstroke " played out by Duran, on the contrary , for me it was Leonards fight to lose, which he did, not by much mind you, Ray was out of his comfort zone because he fought Durans fight, at the time Leonard was seen as a pretty boy boxer, many doubted his grit and assumed wrongly as it panned out that he would not be man enough to engage Duran in close quarter warfare, Leonard was acutely aware of this talk, to wit he most definitely engaged Duran in the trenches and lost by a fraction, had he fought Duran the first time like he did the second, I believe the outcome would have been the same, so yes contrasting views from your good self and I , makes the forum tick, which is a good thing.
Enjoy your post as always hombre, stay safe buddy.

 

I know, Tommy was way ahead early on, but when Ray turned it into a slugfest (rounds 6, 7 and later on when behind) he got the better of it. If Tommy had wanted to trade early on, my money would be on Ray then too. Duran was overwhelmed, Leonard wouldn’t be. Tommys best best was to keep him on the end of that long jab and consistent combos from range. All this “could’ve, should’ve”…didn’t.

 

Yes. Tommy could outbox Ray but not outlast him. In their second bout,I make Hearns the winner but by a lot narrower margin that a lot of people have it.

 

Hey Mike, i think you've actually misread the meaning of my message which is perfectly understandable.

Leonard fought Duran's fight because Duran, thru a series of cold hard calculated maneuvers worked Leonard up into a fit of rage to where he wanted to punch Duran into next year. Some of this included telling Leonards wife he would keel her husband and also had a spy letting him know when Juanita would leave her hotel. Duran would have a car already waiting, race down to it, and have it pull up beside her so he could tell her i *pucky pucky you after i beat your husband.

* One word has been changed to two softer more sanitary samples.

So the "masterstroke" i am talking about is riling up Ray to the point where he played right into Duran's hands, willingly.

 

Hi Buddy,
Fair play, my bad, probably read you post after a small glass of sherry !
chat soon John.

 

All good Mike i don't mind a tipple myself now and then!!!

 

No, he hurt Tommy by managing to catch him with a hook, going for that early might have got him caught, Tommy went on the retreat after round 6 and Ray was still struggling to land.

 

I think that a prime 1969 Jose Mantequilla Napoles would have out finessed Prime Sugar Ray Leonard over 15 rounds. Barring a laceration to Napoles eyebrows, Mantequilla would have been too slick. Roberto Duran bested a prime Sugar Ray Leonard on June 20 1980 in Montreal to capture the WBC title, so could have Napoles that night.