Where do you put Leonard on a great Middleweight s list? Great fighter for me but only the one win really at middle (albeit over an absolute ATG) so curious where some place him.
Don’t rate him high as a middle at all. Credit to him because he boxed some good rounds and the stars aligned against Hagler… but he was was out of puff after 6 rounds in there and got walked down, for me it was a lucky decision and wouldn’t translate to beating other top middles at all. In fact I don’t buy that SRL was shot against Norris, think a few fast powerful middles would spank him like that.
I've seen a couple of lists that place him as high as 18 at middle. I can't fathom that myself, he only had the one victory at the weight. What about Duran? He went the distance with Hagler and beat Barkley at middle,where to put him?
Though I love Leonard, I don't rank him highly at Middleweight at all. Though he beat the best middleweight in the history of the sport at the weight , ( My opinion on Hagler) He simply didn’t do enough. It was only one fight. Yes he had the skill level and physicality to beat most Middleweights in history . It's sad the eye injury and his personal demons shorted out what could've been an even more sensational run from welterweight to Lt.heavy. At his best I don't believe many fighters in the history of the sport would've beaten him from 1980 - 1987. But that's pure speculation on my part. Same reason I don't rank him with the best at Jr. Middleweight. Though yes in my opinion, at his best he'd beat the best in the history of the sport at the weight. He simply didn’t earn the right to be seen as one of the best at that weight limit. A good win against the underrated Ayub Kalule, and a loss to Terry Norris almost ten yrs later and we'll past his prime yrs. Not enough meat on the bone to rank him above even Canelo Alvarez, who in my opinion is one of the most overrated boxers in the history of the sport . And head to head Leonard would've beaten convincingly at his best. But Leonard didn't do more at the weight than Alvarez has done. ( Though much of what Alvarez has accomplished is thru the Mayweather Jr.s School of " smoke and mirrors . Or Selective competition) Leonard's career is the great enigma of what should've been. Based on four ATG great wins , and a lot of good ones at welterweight. But really didn't have the longevity to be viewed with the best at Middleweight or Jr. Middleweight.
