If there was someone who could beat Leonard at the time or a boxer of Leonard's quality now we would have heard of him. It's like me saying I could beat Steph Curry in a game of one of one.
Like seriously how can Griffith be lower than Mayweather, Hagler and Canelo by these margins? Crawford > Ross is tragic but anyway it is BoxRec and I’m no list guy IDKSAB.
This that’s why I always add “But I’m no list guy” no way I could juggle all those balls. There are obvious ones but are they if I look at EVERYONE? I remember at one point they had Jimmy Bivins close to #1 or he was #1 and @cross_trainer commented BoxRec was haunted by the spectre of Bert Sugar or something, I shamefully said I wanted to choke him to death with his stupid hat… he’d died years earlier and to this day boxrec lists make me feel terrible.
Bert's list was subjective. BoxRec attempts to be objective. It is based on who beat who when and how each was rated. Back to Ray was Ray running when he was battering the much bigger Hit Man on the ropes and the ref mercifully stopped the fight?
When the bell rang for the 14th round, Sugar Ray Leonard was trailing substantially on all three judges' scorecards. Unless he was able to dominate Thomas Hearns so much that some of the officials awarded him a 2-point edge, 10-8, in a round or two, there was no way he would have won the undisputed welterweight title. And so Sugar Ray Leonard did what he had to do. He did what a great fighter does. He knocked out another great fighter who was beating him. Always remember that as good as Sugar Ray Leonard was last night, Thomas Hearns was almost as good. In a sense, Thomas Hearns was even better over the first 13 rounds. But then Sugar Ray knocked him out in a fight that will be remembered as long as people talk about boxing. ... In the 13th, Sugar Ray somehow landed a right hand that shook Thomas Hearns to his toes. Sensing a chance for the kill, Sugar Ray pounced as if he were a puma leaping out of a tree. And if there were any doubts that Sugar Ray is not a gladiator, he dispelled them now. Slashing and shoving, he half-punched and half-pushed Thomas Hearns through the ropes onto the ring apron which Referee Davey Pearl ruled to be a push rather than a knockdown. But moments later Sugar Ray clearly knocked Thomas Hearns through the ropes. Davey Pearl counted to nine and was waving Sugar Ray Leonard to resume the brawl when the bell rang. Sports of the Times; TWO FOR HISTORY, WITH A TWIST - The New York Times
Doesn't even include the great Willie Pep, (who could even be considered for the number one spot, though I'm fine with Robinson), but Alvarez is on there lol.... These lists are always a laugh.
Sure, plenty. You can't hate on Ray for GOAT. That said, it's really all about criteria. Most fans lists just reflect their preferences. So while you can't hate on Ray being GOAT, you can't Armstrong or Mayweather either. .... I agree with most lists.