Could Sugar Ray Leonard be top 10 fighter of all time?

yeah, leonard said it himself, he saw how hagler struggled with mugabi and realized he had the opportunity to win. it was still a great win for him, as hagler still was dangerous. but it was a well-calculated risk for leonard.

 

Why should leonard be obligated to fight Hagler? Leonard was a welterweight. hagler a middleweight. You don't see Monzon critisized for never moving up to fight bob foster. The fact Sugar Ray had the balls to jump up two weight classes after nearly a 5 year layoff and fight this long reigning middleweight champion shows his true toughness. The fact Leonard beat Hagler is just incredible.

 

:yep:yep:good

 

well, you have to understand, the hagler win is one of, if not the biggest victory of leonard's career. was he obligated to fight hagler, no. but this victory is one of the reasons why you even have a discussion about leonard being ranked a top 10 fighter all-time. so its gets scrutinized. and, no matter what people think, it was a great victory.

 

Exactly, he was no more obligated to fight Hagler than he was Aaron Pryor.

 

No. Read my first post again.

 

Because he was Sugar Ray. Because he was destined to do what the first Sugar Ray did. It is incredible that he beat Hagler. No doubt. But the way everything played out leaves a sour taste in my mouth. One thing why I can´t really appreciate Leonard´s career. Same goes for DLH too btw. and Jones Jr. and PBF. Fighters that always want fights on their terms and when they want them. Don´t like it.

 

^^^^^ Well this is your first post and you said ^^^ sounds the same as saying "It hurt his legacy".

 

Sugar Ray Leonard beat 4 top 50 atg, and on top of that he still has wins over other world champs and contenders, he's easily top 20 all times.

 

No. It does not. It sounds as if I think it hurts the value of some of his wins. His legacy is what it is. A great one lacking a bit depth and longevity.

 

I feel the same about this, I automatically lose respect for them.

As far as him being top 10, I dunno....I think top 10 might be a bit of a push.




p.s Suzie.....your Marciano/Valdes poster is done!

 

To answer the TS question, I think anywhere from maybe six to twenty-something is reasonable. I've had him a little shuffled around in that region since trying my hand at my own list. He's currently in my top ten. The era he operated in really allowed him to shine. There aren't many modern fighters who even if they had the same league of physical gifts were really surrounded by that kind of talent in their weight biggest possible weight range.

 

Yeah that's true, he had alot of great fighters around his weight in his era. Pernell on the other hand had only azumah nelson, julio cesar chavez and I guess terry norris was a great fighter at 154, but they never fought. When I compare pernell and ray, leonard obviously has the better wins, but pernell had better longevity.

 

I think he is top 5. Duran is overrated and Leonard underrated. This man beat greats in a row.

 

He has a case top be top5 and above Duran, no other fighter gets wins taken from them by excuses like Leonard does, except maybe Roy Jones. He has arguably beat the best 135lber, the best 140lber, the best 154lber, the best 160lber in history. That is pretty epic anyway you spin it

The only credible argument against him is 'his resume doesn't have enough depth'. But if we subtract those 7 Elite fights, we still have Lalonde LHW champ, Kalule 154lb champ and top contenders at WW like Shields, Mayweather, Green, Ranzany, Viruet, Muniz. He possibly could have added Cuevas/Palomino/Pryor defenses to add to his resume but they wouldn't have meant that much and we know Pryor turned the fight down wanting more money and outside of Pryor they wouldn't be hard fights. At MW he could have done far more but he was past his prime and had just conquored Everest