In your analysis. How did SRL beat , Benitez , Duran , Hagler?

Duran beat self in second fight. Hagler fight was too close, i'd have to se it again. Leonard was great, not one of greatest, but great and skilled. Know what his most underrated strength was? He could slug. If cornered, he would let hands go, and back off guys like Hagler and Duran. Great speed, with pretty good power. I always thought that id he had more of an aggressive style and attitude the would have been a monster. In first Duran fight, Duran actually does better in parts were they box, when they start slugging it out Ray actually holds own or does better.

 

dude is one of the best fighters to ever live he is a top 5 ATG are you smoking crack

 

I can tell you why.Because he had a deeper well and a better understanding of psychology than anyone else.Why is it so hard for you to accept that Ray has the edge over Floyd? I'm a Floyd fan,but I've seen both(although I was only old enough to see Ray's second phase whilst really understanding the game,and that's not represntative of his peak) and the main reason you'll never know just how great Floyd really is is because he's never faced the level of adversity or opponent that Ray did.It could well be that he did have enough,but we'll never know.
He beat Benitez by being first to the punch,and not being drawn into Benitez' countering traps by following up his attacks with movement.He beat Duran by getting inside his head,dancing around as if he was in training and the bottom line is,it worked.He beat Hagler by using a strategy of trying to catch the judges eye with impressive flurries at the tail end of every round.He did whatever it took to get the job done.
I'm not saying Floyd isn't an ATG or one of the most skilled and able fighters I've seen.I just think Ray would have enough to beat him.Why are all these young fans unable to accept that there were great fighters before 2000?

 

He was ahead on all scorecards in the Benitez fight when he knocked him down in the last round and the ref stopped it. He simply outboxed and outclassed Benitez.


The second Duran fight he used his speed and boxing ability to totally frustrate Duran into saying "No Mas" and quitting in the 8th. He boxed smart and didn't try to stand toe to toe with the same guy that beat him in Montreal and played to his strengths.

Even though it goes down as a W against Hagler, I believe Hagler was robbed in that fight. I've seen in a few times and Ray pitty-patted in the late stages of many rounds to leave the judges with the impression he was doing enough to win the rounds-----and it worked. I would have loved to have seen a rematch, but that fight left such a bad taste in Hagler's mouth, it just didn't happen.

 

The only one I'll comment on is the Hagler fight. I don't get the controversy about it. Hagler won some of the early rounds but then became too "static" and was chasing Leonard all around the ring while Leonard landed some eye catching combos. Leonard won the fight convincingly.

 

Leonard's wins over Duran are less impressive than Duran's win over Leonard. Duran's quit job was unforgivable, but the fight was reasonably close and Leonard's clowning is all most people really remember. The third fight was just two old men out for a payday. The first Duran Leonard fight was the better fight and the most impressive win.

The Hagler fight was close, but Hagler was old, war torn and near the end. It's still an impressive win given Leonard's long lay off, but I'm not convinced Leonard could have pulled it off two years earlier.

I like Leonard a lot, but sometimes feel he gets a little too much glory. That said, I believe he is a more complete fighter than Floyd and I dont see Floyd beating Duran or Hagler; Benitez I'm not sure.

 

This is a pretty good breakdown overall. I would not say Haglar was outright robbed but I thought he won clearly and I was a HUGE SRL fan at the time (and still am).

 

Leonard, in his biography, apparently chose to rematch Duran immediately because of the well documented habit of Duran of gaining weights in between fight, similar to Ricky Hatton.

 

And no, fraud won't beat any if those.. They are simply too big..

Plus fraud really punches like a girl.

 

This depends on who you ask, especially with some of these fights, a lot of people feel differently about who won some of these, A lot think he was beaten by Hearns in their draw, and that Hagler beat him. So instead I'll analyze this a bit differently.

With Duran, it was more psychological than anything. Here is Duran who is coming into battle and what he gets is a fighter totally disrespecting him and making him look silly, sticking out his mouth piece, throwing bolo punches and shaking his hips. Thus Duran is pissed insulted humiliated and just says **** it. Not because he was scared, but do to his anger and frustration. I don't care about third fight cause Duran and Leonard were old though Ray used the same tactic.

Benitez was just the pure skill and style of SRL. IMO Sugar was just simply better.


Hagler and Hearns are more a testament to his versatility and athleticism. He was able to stand in with these guys regardless of how you had the Hagler and second Hearns fight scored because he was fast, he could trade punches if need be, he could box, and he had a hell of a chin. And he could switch gears at any point. Example being vs Hagler, Leonard would be laying on the ropes getting beat on by Hagler and all of a sudden come back with a vicious combo to back him up.

Point is he had every thing all the physical athleticism, skill and brains. Another thing you can also point to his SRL have Dundee in his corner.

 

The maturity of a grown man, Ladies and Gentleman.

 

Leonard was a great fighter he could box he could slug basically could find a way to win vs any kind of fighter

as far as Floyd goes its hard for me to believe beating Leonard would be this impossible task

I mean Duran Leonard and Hearns are all great but so is Floyd and to think that in 2 or 3 fights vs these guys Floyd couldnt win at least one to me is hard to believe

maybe the boxers then were better maybe the sport over all was better who knows but watching Floyd do what he does makes it hard for me to say he couldnt possible beat Leonard on a given night

 

Listen, maybe its you that`s doing the overrating (in floyds favour) because if you knew about these guys you`d know that every single one of them would be favourites to beat floyd, not because floyd is not talented but because they are bigger AND talented AND have proved it vs better fighters.

Yes, Leonard used movement vs Duran & Hagler... but he also had to trade as well, these guys were not mugs that could be picked apart for 12 rounds & outskilled like Baldomir, SRL knew he would need to fight at some point & vs Duran & Hagler that is not a good thing... by sticking & moving whenever possible, Ray is building points in the best way possible to = a win.

SRL tried to outfight Duran in the first fight but found out that in his own words `Duran is for real` he had to use movement in the rematch, it would be suicide not to judging by their first fight.

As for Hagler, well, no explaination needed as to why Ray boxed & moved, Hagler was the bigger, stronger guy, there was no way he was beating Hagler in a firefight, simple.

Benitez ?... well, he was a boxer master, a defensive wizard, a counterpuncher, Ray boxed from distance beautifully, fighting flatfooted but letting his speed & power do the damage while refusing to rush in & let Benitez be at his best (counterpunching & slipping punches)... Leonard boxed beautifully, nothing else to say really.