Not a knock on Ray Leonard, but this man retired/went on more vacations than FMJ

I'm not nearly as skeptical of FMJ's accomplishments as you are, Wayne...(Chico, jMM, JLC x2, Chicanito, past in but dangerous SSM, Cotto, et al are good wins despite whatever mitigating circumstances one can attatch), but common sense has to enter the equation at some point, y'know?

SRL ran half the division on his way up...Tommy Hearns ran the other half. And since it was a good solid division at that point, that's a pretty good accomplishment that should be noted, because it's not something that happens all that often.

 

And he thought The Hit Man was shot when he fought him it didnt go as he planed.But he is still one of the best ever in fact the best welterweight in my lifetime.

 

Outside of the Heavies ( and certainly not ALL of them ) Leonard was by far and away the highest paid boxer on the planet. Thats why he could pick and choose when he retired, and came back, and also who he fought.

 

He earned everything he got.

 

You may actually know too much.

 

You are a Moron who does not know his ass from his elbow! Repeating BS over and over again does not make it true!

 

If SRL is ranked lower than FMJ then i really have no hope left in the boxing public

 

Like he's comparable to Floyd though. He still fought Hearns, Duran, and Benitez. Nothing on Mayweather's resume can spell either one of those names so I dont see the comparison. You can make criticisms of how opportunistically he fought Hagler, but Hagler was a MIDDLEWEIGHT, and Leonard had been inactive for how many years. If that were'nt supposed to even up the score I dont know what is. Hagler was favoured to win that fight need I remind?

 

when you fight the level of opponents he did...somethings are easily forgiven

 

You are being hard done by on here by clowns who know **** all about Leonard & his plans to prolong the SRL $$$$ brand.

Start at 7.40 ot this clip & the shitbag Leonard in all his machavelion glory.

http://youtu.be/aZ2nLAwR8Oc


Back in 82 it was by public demand that leonard now fight Hagler & this also was the case that leonard talked himself into the position that he had to beat Hagler to acheive greatness & the reason being that back then he was still not considered to be the real deal but a media big $$$$$ TV creation. He absolutly refused to re-match Tommy Hearns or Wilfred Benitez unless it was at 147 & not 154. Fighting & Losing to Marvin Hagler would have ended the SRL $$$$$ road show.

Never mind all the rest of the spin & bull**** that changes from year 2 year that comes out of the SRL spin factory. SRL used Hagler, he hated anyone else being in the spotlight & would do all & anything to undermine said personaility. He did this to up & coming Hector Camacho whilst haunting ringside for HBO & Camacho offered to beat the **** out of Leonard there & then, Camacho never forgot the snide putdowns from leonard hense his great joy & beating him up all those years later.

Leonard's eye was never ever a problem, Leonard publicly stated in 83 if Duarn beats hagler he's def coming back. In 84 when Kevin Howard put him on his ass & got shafted by the ref, SRL could'nt flee the sport fast enough, simply stating i ai'nt got it no more & i'll not continue to embarras myself. The Howard fight was meant to be a tune up for SRL's attempt to get his old 147 title's back from Curry & McCrory. He wanted no part of Hagler PERIOD!!

Leonard just haunted the scene from ringside waiting for the opportunity to move in & steal all the glory from those who now had centre stage. Leonard is one of the smartest sharpest most vicious basterds out there. He was tied to no promotor, he knew he was the global brand & so did everyone else, but his star was wanning & then just saw the opportunity which was just to good to pass up when he say marvin on old legs. Saying that, it took some balls to get back in there.

But in the main SRL never ever gave anyone of any danger to opportunity to avenge a loss back in the day. In fact SRL never wanted to fight Tommy in 81, it took hearns to throw a rubber chicken at him in the aftermath of the SRL/Duran II fight & even then Leonard said that hearns had to go beat a fighter of the calibre of Duran before he got a shot at him.

SRL is all about BIZZNESS & $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. There was an outcry for a Hearns rematch & at least a Benitez re-match, but SRL was having none of it & only Hagler was there & all roads led to Hagler, he could'nt put it off any longer & then he pulled that disgracefull publicity coup on Hagler in 82. Leonard was fit & ready to fight again in 83/84/85/86 but he chose to just sit & wait until all the big names had battered each other. It's all about being able to stay the coarse & avoid the rocks! The eye injury was'nt as serious as it was publicised or he would not have been in the ring again. In 84 SRL cmae back to see if he could get his old titl's back at 147, he wanted **** all to do with any of the other dangerman such as Duran/Hearns/Hagler & Benitez.

Kevin Howard shook SRL up so much he could'nt quit the sport quick enough. No way could Leonard cut it against the new breed of Young guns at 147 as in Curry & Starling & SRL knew it!

What we have today in Floyd Mayweather is a very astute young man who's adopted the SRL statergy of $$$$$ earning longevity. It's all about navigating your way to the HBO golden goose, plucking it slowly, very slowly! To acheive this you must be able to manipulate the nieve & gullible masses into believing what they are seeing. SRL was a master & mayweather his apprentice when it comes to being able to dictate & manipulate a common concensus for public consumption & that consmption is $70 a pop at 1 MILLION+ on PPv. Just like SRL, Floyd Mayweather is a FREE AGENT.

 

Maybe Mayweather learned from looking at Leonard's career, but if he were in Leonard's place he would never have fought Hearns, Hagler or Duran. He simply wouldn't take risks like that.

Leonard was crafty, and knew the importance of timing when it came to fights, but he was also much more willing to fight the toughest, most dangerous fighters in the world.

 

you cannot compare Ray and Floyd . When Ray was fighting he had the guts to fight the best. Floyd does not. This thread is simple. Ray had confidence he would win no matter what.

 

Back then there was only the WBC/WBA. There was no juicy HBO contracts, you had to smash yer way to the front & to do that yer had to sell yer arse away to KING or Arum. Even for SRL who made sure he was a free agent, there was no avoiding the tests, Ray was soon fighting ranked fighters, it was such a tough hard hard road for all protagonists & great for the fans, these were "working fighters" hence all the Non-Title bouts & exhibitions for terrestrial TV. Unifications were an absolute MUST if yer wanted access to the global closed circuit $$$$.

Boxing today from a fans perspective is very poor fare when put in comparison with the pre PPv era. It's great for the fighters as there's now the proliferation of flashy TV manifactured title's/belts. It's all very Gorbalesque propoganda, keep telling the same lie until it becomes pure truth.

Thee boxing bizzness model of today is not in the best interest's of boxing from the purist perspective. with so many titlist's it gives said compatents more opportunities to earn a living albeit in a somewhat less dangerous enviroment by means of being able to pad yer record/get an wallmart alphabete belt & make a modest living.

No need anymore to risk the dangers of the night time boxing jungle. But saying that, there's very few who are fortunate enough to be handed an HBO treasure map that will enable you to avoid all the dangers along the path to riches at the end.

Today: You now need a gimmick or a twatter account, ginger hair or a public pre fight hair brushing to qualify for an opportunity for a sniff at some mugs $70.

 

:yep

Even if Ray's bizzness model said avoid a certain protagonist, he still fought them, as in the Hearns fight. That showed to all the doubters (Who were more than justified) Ray was indeed the real deal, Ray for me is the most vicious ruthless ******* i've seen in the ring, Roberto was driven by his upbringing, pure hate with emotion.

But Ray was thee real nasty piece of work, an absolute stone cold vicious ****ing killer, the complete package of skill & savagery, relentless! Remorseless! Pure spite & malice carefully concealed & packaged for the camera's. Thats why the Montreal fight is an EPIC!

 

I agree, which is why when I see him so gentlemanly and smiling with people now, you know inside he is much tougher. Hearns on the other hand was more devastating with his punches, but I think a sweeter guy than Ray inside. Not to say Ray is not a nice guy, but he is ruthless.

As far as vulnerabilities. Hearns was more technical and found the weaknesses with his jab and speed. Duran was brutal and sensed when he could knock someone out and saw vulnerabilities as the fight happened-relentless. Ray made them and planned them out beforehand. Hagler just broke a guy down until they were vulnerable not unlike Duran. Hagler was a guy who was more dangerous when a guy posed a bigger threat.