4 best U.S boxers of last 30 years

Duran would not be first on my list among Hearns/Hagler/Leonard/Duran. He is a great fighter, but the talk about how he is greater than them all does not make sense since they all beat bigger legends than he did.

 

1.Hagler
2.Leonard
3.Jones
4.Sweet Pea
Leonard was unquestionably one of the greatest welterweights/fighters ever.No one can question his greatness.But,due to his popularity,ergo his moneymaking ability-for both himself and his opponents,he managed to manipulate the system like no other.For example,after Duran beat him,the rematch was staged 5 months after the first,as Leonard knew Duran would still be celebrating by bingeing.Which he was.It was obvious that the Duran from the second fight was totally different from the first.Should this be taken into consideration as Duran was a professional and should have been better prepared?On its own,no.But considering that Leonard refused to give Tommy Hearns a rematch immediately after their epic as Duran gave Leonard his,speaks volumes.Leonard knew who the moneymaker was and exploited it fully as he was as shrewd a businessman and manipulator as he was a great fighter.As far as the Hagler fight,we know Leonard came back after 3 years,but before that Leonard had never taken a brutal beating,so he wasn't physically beaten down.But Hagler had never taken a beating either,but was obviously on the slippery slope downward.One need to look at the Roldan and Mugabi fights to see that the Marvelous One's reflexes were shot.And Hagler was older than Leonard.And he was fighting only once every 1-1 1/2 years at that point himself.The truth is that Leonard publicly toyed with the idea of challenging Hagler for years,but in reality,wanted nothing to do with Hagler until he was certain that Marvin was shot,which he was.Leonard was a great,great fighter,but he was also a great,great conman.As great as a fighter that he was,Leonard was even better at making himself look good in and out of the ring.I very highly recommend reading,"SORCERY AT CAESARS,Sugar Ray's Marvelous Fight" by Steve Marantz.I remember 90% of those events as if it were yesterday.As I wrote before,Leonard wanted nothing to do with Marvin until he was certain Marvin was shot.And I'm still convinced that Marvin deserved at least a draw in that one.

 

I think you mean SR Leonard.SR Robinson was retired in the 60's and can't be included in the last 30 years.

 

My last post was directed to Danny_Rand.

 

Other than Leonard (who Duran beat and may be the greatest win ever), Hagler and Hearns resume's pale in comparison to Duran's. I can't fathom having Hearns and Hagler ahead of Duran all-time and their two of my favorite fighters.

 

Hearns resume pales compared to Duran? How can you say that. Hearns won his first title from Cueves. 10 defenses. His second from great Wilfred Benitez, 2 greats right there he beat. He knocked Duran cold when Duran was fellow 154 pound champ, had a war with Marvin. won 4 and then 5 titles in different divisions and was the first man to win the light heavyweight title two times after winning the Welterweight title. Even his fights which were not the Duran/Leonard/Benitez,Hagler caliber were good fighters. Shields,Sutherland,Minchillo,Shuler,Medal,Dewitt,Andries,Roldan,Barkley,Kinchen,Olajide and the list goes on and on. And he beat Virgil Hill for his light heavyweight title 30 pounds above welt. Virgil was undefeated and 10 defenses. Duran did not do this. before you say Duran beat better guys look at the records. That really is not true. Duran beating Ray was taken away by Ray almost knocking him out and Duran quitting. Look I like Duran ,but he is not p4p top 5.. In the last 30 years he ranks well, but so does Hearns. I think Hearns is underrated and Duran overrated. The fact Hearns was knocked out by Hagler and Leonard is because he came to fight.

 

Leonard
Holyfield
Whittaker
Hopkins

 

Well Duran also knocked out Iran Barkley (the guy who KO Hearns) another historical win and he too knocked out Cueves. He has wins against Ken Buchanan which is very underrated, Esteban DeJesus, Kobayashi, and Carlos Palomino. Just because he quit against Leonard (wasn't in good condition) doesn't take away the great win he earned the 1st time. He also gave Hagler some problems down the stretch in their fight and recieved a close decision (too close in my opinion).

By the way Hearns is my favorite fighter EVER, but he is not greater than Roberto Duran. Is he H2H the superior fighter I may very well agree with you on that as Hearns was stylistically a nightmare and is P4P the hardest puncher to may have graced the ring.


I rank Duran inside the top 10, while I rank Hearns from 20-25 (at the moment).

 

Nice post. The thing I responded to more was when you said Hagler and Hearns resume pales compared to Duran. In that I disagree. Hearns fought and beat some quality guys from 147 to 175.. Titlist who were hall of fame. In the Virgil Hill fight Virgil was undefeated and had 10 title defenses like Cueves did 11 years before, and Tommy outboxed him.