If Leonard moved up and beat Lalonde why not Spinks?

Actually, lots of lh in that timeframe handle Leonard.

 

Because Spinks was a much better fighter than Lalonde?
I'm not a Lalonde hater, and unlike quite a few posters on
this site that downplay his career because of the loss to
Leonard, and there hatred from him ( Leonard)
I try to see as it is, or was.
Leonard's victory over Lalonde is a much better win
than most on this site would admit.
Lalonde had two impressive wins over good and
natural Lt. Heavy's prior to his fight with Leonard.
Eddie Davis and Leslie Stewart were world class
and natural Lt.heavy's of the era.
And Davis gave Michael Spinks a good fight.
So, Lalonde was a better fighter than he gets credit
for.
Still there's a very wide gulf between him, and
Michael Spinks.
Spinks was a ATG at Lt. Heavy, possibly the
G.O.A.T at that weight class.
That's a mountain too high for the 2nd best
natural welterweight in history (Leonard)
or even the 1st (Robinson).

 

he knew better than to take fights like these. lalonde was a carefully chosen opponent. as was hagler once he was reduced to a shell. His fans will take what they can and throw out whatever they dont like

 

Get this! "Leonard's victory over Lalonde is a much better win
than most on this site would admit.". Truly this is wishful thinking

 

Admittedly Sugar can put a claim to the GOAT title in career management.

Sugar was a smart hustler who knew whom to challenge, but also when and how, stacking the deck on his side. Kudos for that.

 

Spinks is levels above LaLonde.

 

Lalonde isn’t in the same solar system as Spinks. SRL would be so far ahead of his skis against Spinks that he’d be orbiting Uranus

 

Leonard chose Lalonde for his cup of coffee for a reason.

 

Yep.

Leonard did not face too many of the tough physical type fighters late stages of his career. This opponent at 175 is walking through anything Ray throws. Let alone the 3 minutes of work Ray has to do to avoid the guy. His only hope is those judges loving his shoeshine flurries to steal the rounds. Don't see Qawi stopping while Leonard flurried like so many others did.

And Leonard did not seek the lots of wear and tear opponents at this stage. Even if victorious, there would be wear and tear on Leonard and virtually none on Qawi.