Is Sugar Ray Leonard divisive amongst boxing fans?

I'd say ,in general the serious fans do hold him in lower regard next to Hagler, Hearns and Duran. As you say Ray had virtually every advantage as a pro, the golden boy of his time ,, and didn't like how he manipulated things to suit his career. He waited till Hagler was showing decline before fighting him and being given a decision that most believe he lost. He had a great win over Hearns at 147 but even he admitted he lost their 2nd fight and he had weight stipulations for that one. Even his wins over Duran had a shadow over them, the 2nd fight saw Duran nowhere near the fighter who beat him in their first fight and by the time they fought the third fight Duran was pushing 39. I think Sugar Ray Leonard may very well be the second greatest welterweight of all time and I don't want to leave out his effort over Benitez at that weight either.

 

Under all the gloss Ray was warrior through and through. Just like Ali before him,he proved time and again that his cojones were as big as any fighter's who stepped into the ring.

 

Is he divisive? In the sort of way the sky is blue, yeah, I'd say so.

A lot of the outright hate for him is silly and says more about the posters that puke that **** up than it does about Ray.

But yes, he's probably the single most polarizing figure discussed here.

 

In a way he was the precursor to Floyd how he carefully managed his career. With that being said he fought "everyone."

 

SRL was the real deal. Most fans can't stand his personality.

 

Kind of reminds me of what Tyson said about Ali that behind the pretty boy persona was an animal.

 

The knock on SRL was he waited for Marvin go get older but like he said he was getting older too.

 

I much prefer Leonard to Mayweather.
I know Floyd is a great fighter but something about him always annoyed me, even though I know people say that about Leonard.

 

I'm a Leonard fan. But he made a lot of mistakes in his
professional and private life in his early years........
Just like ALL of us did. The difference is his life
was so public.
The stunt he pulled in 1982" with the "retirement party "rubbed most old
school boxing fans the wrong way, some to this day, including me,
a fan of his. ( I thought it was a ***hole move, I never held it against
him.)
But his career though not as long as most ATG'S makes it up
in spades with competition faced, and most importantly WHEN
he faced them, Leonard didn't wait around for his toughest
threats to past their primes.....
Even on his way to the championship, he fought some very
tough fighters. He wasn't as protected as some like to think.
In my opinion, he's the best fighter of my life time which is
60 yrs. Yes their have been fighters that may have been
a little more gifted (Jones Jr, Camacho Sr. Hearns)
But the attributes that makes a great fighter
like physical gifts, mental toughness, skills, showmanship,
heart, tactical changes and adjustments in the heat of combat,
speed, power, creativity, chin, competition faced, Leonard
places high or very high.
His only low point is longevity.
Some old school boxing fans have a certain stereotype of
fighters and what they supposed to look and act like.
Leonard didn't fit that stereotype. Sucks for them they
can't see past their blinders..........

 

When I learned he did coke and hit his wife he was diminished in my eyes. The same thing with DLH and his addiction. However if it's truly in their past and they are trying to be better people then that has to be taken into consideration.

 

Say what you want about him, but he is the best fighter of my lifetime

 

What is it with athletes and drugs? Is it too much money? Trying to duplicate the high of competition?

 

Had the honour of meeting Ray a few weeks ago. Class act.