Delahoya would have little chance vs Leonard in a match-up & if you rate boxers in a tier kind of way then SRL is tier 1 & DLH is tier 3 IMO.
Is your main point really that Oscar never 'looked' great in any of his major fights? I don't think DLH ever put on a 'complete' performance against a great opponent (Chavez fights excluded), but really, it has to be factored in that he was facing high, high quality opposition. It's hard to look great against such tough competition. No doubt he isn't on Ray Leonard's level, but really, is that saying anything we didn't all know? I think Oscar was a natural 140 pounder actually, and at that weight, I think he troubles most guys, even though quite a few would beat him. At welterweight he'd take a few drubbings but still be competitive with most.
Not really that that's my main point, just that him not looking too great in my eyes was one of the things that provoked my thinking of him as not as great as others. To be honest, this thread actually is something that we all knew anyway, as you said. I basically just made the thread to express my feelings and thoughts that Oscar De La Hoya in my opinion attempted to trick the world into thinking that he was one of the greatest fighters ever, i reckon he'd still try abd pass that off even now. Can't remember what fight it was, think it was the build-up to Mayweather, he actually said no fighter has dominated 6 weight divisions like he had, he used the d word. I was just pissed off with him at the time and it was playing on my mind, maybe it's a pointless thread!
Like whom? During his time at 135, he only fought one other world-class lightweight (not junior lightweights). Rafael Ruelas, which was a very good win.
The main difference is that Leonard did most things at a higher level than De La Hoya. DLH did almost everything at a high level, but Leonard even higher. DLH maybe had a better left jab and arguably had a better left hook. Leonard left little doubt as to whom was the winner in most of his biggest fights, other than the controversial win against Hagler. He stopped Benitez, stopped Hearns, stopped Kalule, and made Duran quit. Yeah Duran had partied too much and Leonard's camp knew this in making the immediate rematch, but is that any worse than waiting until the guy who beat you (Mosley) has lost a couple fights in a row, looked low on confidence, and then rematched him then? DLH had some solid wins on his ledger like Ruelas, Hernandez, Gonzalez, and Chavez for instance, but against the best guys, he never proved he was much better (or worse) in fights with Whitaker, Quartey (a great finish doesn't make up for the rest of the fight when you stand there and do nothing), Mosley, etc...The Vargas one is an exception, but Vargas (especially post-Trinidad) isn't exactly a great like El Radar or The Hitman. One thing I liked better about DLH than Gay Ray is that he was more active and continued to fight tough opposition. At age 33-34, Leonard was avoiding the top middleweights and instead fighting a supposedly shot Hearns, old Duran (even if he did beat Barkley), and Norris (big upset at the time). Fighting the p4p king Mayweather (even if he is smaller) is more impressive choice of opposition. Fighting the midget Manny is rather crappy however.
DLH beat him narrowly on my card. It wasn't this huge robbery. There were close rounds, even before DLH got tired and ran. Round 1 was close. Round 4 was close. Rounds 8 and 9 were close. Hell, it was no worse a decision than the Quartey fight. That fight was even easier to score. The main difference is, Tito didn't score a 12th round KD and have Oscar in trouble to make people forget about how much of the fight he stood there and did nothing, like Oscar did for most of the Quartey bout.