Floyd Mayweather Vs Sugar Ray Leonard who wins prime for prime

Agreed with a few add-ons if I may.

1. Those years in the wilderness stole his peak - at the regularity he was fighting, I would venture that late 68 - 70 Ali would have been sensational. Likely would've beaten Bonavena and IMO Frazier and the other top contenders in that time-frame.

2. I'm not sure that Ali's era was necessarily tougher per se - the top fighters were definitely better and Ali was an active contender and champion.

I really like Louis as a fighter but I have never ever ranked him higher than Ali when I consider all the factors that I use to rank my ATGs - Ali is bettered by greats in lighter weight classes.

 

I think that Ray would have backed him up and put him into a defensive shell.

 

This. The greatest myth in boxing is that a fighter is flawless, or unbeatable. Experts and boxers ad nauseum explain how this is a myth , from as far as Chappie Blackburn, yet when it's Floyd people pretend to have an objective measurement (Like compubox) that he was unbeatable. Floyd's style would NOT have been particularly unbeatable in old-school era's and I've seen interviews from Duran and even Curtis Cokes(underrated) who confidently analyzed that they knew how they could've beaten. Manny Steward and Futch could've led many fighters to beat Mayweather, I have no qualms about it. It's funny how people say Mayweather's the best ever without fighting a murderer's row of great fighters in a great competitive era, but then those same guys say Sweet Pea is only top 50. Bias much? Certain intagibles exist in boxing that are hard to measure , such as guys with immeasurable wills to win. Where was the Jake Lamottas, Ali, Frazier, or even JCC in Floyd's era? Guys you'd have to kill for them to let you just beat them and low work rate box them to decision. I put it this way, in an interview with Roger, Seckbach said what do you say when they say Floyd would just beat JCC he said " These mfs DKSAB". MANY fighters could've beaten Floyd. Pacquiao met his Marquez, even if it took 4 times Marquez layed him out.Sometimes it just takes 1 night of a good game plan, and to be the better man.

 

Myth that Marciano wasn't skilled. PEOPLE CONFUSE BEING A TECHNICIAN WITH SKILLS.He didn't get trained by Goldman and live in the gym (Was one of the first athletes truly dedicated to conditioning year round) to have no skills. He was 5 10 and 205 naturally, and cut to 185, and he had a style predicated on slugging but that doesn't mean no skills. Cus D'Amato laid the groundwork for Peek-a-boo on watching Rocky fight. Rocky had an immense will to win, he didn't fear man or the mob and he'd do whatever he good to beat his opponent size or not. If he wasn't facing a Liston/Foreman kind of fighter, he wasn't letting the bell ring without being competitive. The biggest myth is that size is insurmountable. Joshua met his Ruiz, his Nistor, Carnera met his Louis, Wilder met his Russo, Stevenson met his Vysotsky.

 

Yep. The idea of sports evolving is something the masses (the uneducated ones) say on their own, but after further research you realize even with modern strength and conditioning and nutrition, rule changes and equipment and facilities produce more changes more so than any "evolution" ----which is stupid because evolution doesn't happen in decades. There's old school records in the NFL and track and field that still exist or were only broken slightly recently, after DECADES. Dempsey had in old age schooled Tony Galento, and he was already a generation or 2 removed from his. If this evolution existed, Bhop and Foreman couldn't have competed because their abilities would've been aged out, which is what evolution actually implies.

 

I see this fight as more competitive than actually close. SRL has all the tools and intangibles to get the job done, and May won't be busy enough to offset that. Too much speed, power, movement, and guile here imo.

 

never understood people saying sugar was to big floyd fought bigger before he is the best adaptor in history no way sugar wins

 

thats not a bad thing if you seen floyd you know he let people waste shots then he broke them down

 

At 147 Leonard.

 

Leonard without a doubt I really can't see it any other way.

 

Mike Trainer?
That dude knew what he was doing.

 

Leonard was more dynamic offensively. He could lead and also counter. He possibly switch up and go inside and tear Floyd up in trench warfare. Or he could get on his toes and make Mayweather come get him.
Bad match for Floyd except $;wise. He'll have alot of 0s in his check but he'll lose that zero he milked.

 

Exactly ... We saw that May had no answer for the strength and pressure of JLC in the 1st fight , and that was at 135 ... The Floyd fans like to add 12 + pounds over his best weight and match him in fights like this .. And the reality is that not only does Floyd not take this fight at 29 years old at 147 lbs . That this is a complete mismatch ..SRL could pick the round he ends this in.. It's time for some to take the Floyd posters off the wall and put away the vaseline

 

Prime Leonard beats any version of Floyd

 

Leonards the A side so that doesnt happen.