Top 3 fighters since Ray Robinson`s prime ????

SRL had some losses but he fought very good competition and most of the time came out on top. You cant expect to fight all those guys and be undefeated.

And as far as the second Duran fight, its not SRL's fault that duran quit, he was winning that fight so durans actions shouldnt be held against him. I also thought he beat Hagler by a decent margin and even though it was Haglers last fight Ray had been away for a long time himself with eye surgery so that was a hell of a performance on his part. He outsmarted Hagler and duped him into being overaggressive and ineffective.

 

Leonard does indeed deserve immense credit for going 12 rounds with an incumbent champion in his return after such a long lay-off.

It is a remarkable achievement.

But the truth is that it was not a remarkable performance. SRL followed a calculated strategy of running and flurrying, he came out with the intention of catching the judges' eye and nicking the decision. At no point did he try to decisively 'beat' Hagler. As it turned out though, it didn't have to be a stellar performance anyway, as Hagler was unrecognizable from the force he still was as late as '83. But that doesn't mean we should view that win for SRL as a great boxing performance, it wasn't.

Although I could accept someone saying it was Leonard's best win purely because of the circumstances of the fight and the big-name achievement aspect of it, I don't rate it as highly as Benitez, Hearns I, Duran I or Duran II as a performance.

 

Duran, Ali, probably Monzon, or Gomez.

 

Duran
Ali
Hagler

First two a lock, third one arguable...but a personal favorite of mine as well.:thumbsup

 

Ali and Duran I can see but Leonard, no way. I can see Monzon or Hagler or Arguello. But leonard, he just doesnt have the fights he should have had.

Bill Butcher uses the argument that Leonard settled the issue in 87 with Hagler and that Hagler admitted defeat with some sort of dance.

For Leonard to be fighter of the 80s, which he clearly wasn't and to belong in the company of Ali and Duran, he would need to summon the guts to face off with Hagler in 82 instead of handing us some made up excuse where he can come when he wants for some leftovers.

Then suddenly, his excuse is no longer mentioned whenever his next fight comes up. I dont see any problem with his eye when Lalonde was chosen as the opponent. He wants to come back and fight let's see him fight Nunn or Jackson instead of protecting him.

Fighting to the age of 40 with a torn retina? BS all the way. Worse excuse I ever saw. Maybe Butcher and company like being taken for a ride but Rooster isn't going for none of it. The man was just scared of getting his head knocked off and doesnt belong anywhere in the vicinity of this top 3 list.

 

It's funny, as soon as Leonard is mentioned in a thread it's ruined. Marvel, Rooster etc, we all know each others position and that they won't change (if anything you're making people more pro-Leonard), so why just don't give it a rest?

 

How did he get owned? Marvel was right. In fact, I was embarassed for those that picked leonard. No defenses at 154, 160, 168, 175. In fact, he never really owned a title at either 168 or 175 and at 160 is highly questionable. Only a win over the up and coming Nunn would convince me of that. I dont think any leonard fan would be too anxious to see what would happen tho.

 

1) Duran

The Duran of DeJesus III, Palomino and Montreal is usually my all time number 2 behind SRR (depending on mood).

2) Monzon

A tenuous pick on my part, but King Carlos concluded his career on an awesome streak, considering his age. Intangibles through the roof.

3) Ali

Now this is something of a presumptuous pick. I can't bring myself to overlook what might have been had he remained classified 4F for the draft (as he should have been), and continued through the late 1960s as an active champion.

 

Monzon or Hagler. I see several people ahead of Leonard also: Arguello, Napoles, Foster, Saad Muhammad, Spinks, Tyson, just for starters

 

Do you try to be so laughable or does it just come natural?

 

Why not Saad? Saad was no joke with his miraculous comeback wins. coming back from the brink of being stopped on the ropes is a bigger accomplishment than a late stoppage of then anemic running out of gas Hearns. Ill take Saad's Nine defenses over Leonard's 4 anyday

 

Right, because he did a same little dance at the end of Duran fight, as well, and we all know he lost that one. :roll:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qgk-R4s-iI[/ame]

The lengths to which people go to rationalize their point of view is often astounding.