Read the quotes and timeline I put together and get back to me. You sound like a typical close-minded Duran fanboy. And your description on the Montreal fight is absurd. It was a very competitive fight.
Like in the ESPN 30 for 30, Ray goes all the way to Panama to “get closure” on the Louisiana fight, because he wasn’t given enough credit for winning. And he’s like “I could see that Duran was hurting and not ready to talk about it”. I think Ray was far more bothered about it than was Duran, the one who embarrassed himself that night. I think Ray was just trying to say something nice here about Hagler.
Did Leonard sleep with some of your wives or girlfriends, maybe your mom? Did he bully some of you at the bus stop? Or the school cafeteria? Because some of are so hateful to the man it's pathetic. He's a successful professional athlete that did a lot of dumb ****. But literally thousands of pro athletes have done dumb ****. Some far worse. Carlos Monzon, a murderous thug is a hero to some of you and Leonard is not? How about Dempsey refusing to fight the best competition because of their race? Charles Liston a leg breaker for the mob. Likely did much worse? And these are some of men just in boxing, not counting the NFL,NBA, Soccer, Baseball. Some of you are so blinded be your hate, you put on blinders to what he actually did in the ring. He never quit because of a stomach ach or bruised shoulder. He took his ass whipping like a man. Without any excuses. Maybe some of you WISH you were him.
That "documentary" is yet just another example of scumbag ray leonard. Great fighter but a massive *******.
Ray Leonard may likely be the best pound for pounds fighter of the past fifty years .. he also had a sadistic and sinister side .. Ray was more popular and had more drawing power in his day than Mayweather had his own ..he was a crossover superstar that transcended boxing and had the ego .. he teased everyone with possible fights w Hagler for many years prior to their actual fight ... he had Hagler attend a huge promotional event with the carrot that he was going to announce a Hagler but then made an ass out of himself by saying he was retiring ... he finally came back to fight Hagler when he saw Hagler was fading just enough .. the Mugabi fight showed a slower, shopworn Hagler getting hit more than ever ... Ray then made the bout and played Marvin's ego and delicate psych like a harp ... he allowed Hagler the bigger purse , huge for Hagler's ergo but dictated ring size, distance, glove size, etc ... to Ray's credit he put on a great show and managed to steal the fight from a flat, over trained, over the hill Hagler ... that said, Ray Leonard would Never , ever have fought the Hagler of 81 - 83 because Ray knew better than anyone that Hagler would have been too much ..
He would have fought Hagler between 81-83 , if he didn't have the detached retina and what that caused in his public and private life. Leonard was an Alpha. If King Kong was in the other corner he would've fought him. Because Alpha's believe they will win. Leonard didn't duck a prime Hearns, Benitez , or Duran but your saying he wouldn't have gotten in the ring with prime Hagler? That really doesn't make any sense TBH. If their was no eye injury, and the money was right, Leonard vs Hagler happens no later than early 84. Stop kidding yourself.
You think prefight hype is sufficient evidence Duran was in top shape? As if their gonna go on record to the media that he was getting diet injections from his doctor. Or even how heavy he actually got. If Arcel had said Duran is weak from losing so much weight in a short time he would basically be saying I'm putting my fighter out there not healthy. He would be calling his own competence into question. It was Duran's fault. He overdid the celebration. Ray had openly admitted he knew Duran's habits and wanted a rematch ASAP. Duran's team the people who were lying in your pre fight quotes..their mostly to blame. Greed. They should have postponed the fight. Maybe they wanted the $10 million.
Reading this makes me remember how many times my favorite fighter, Larry Holmes, said weird, dumb, or outright ill-advised stuff. In some ways he could be really off-putting but he was my favorite so I stuck up for him. Not that Flash is doing that here, all respect my friend.
