Is Sugar Ray Leonard overrated?

He is certainly one of the greats. One of the best I`ve ever seen live with my own two eyes. I think he deserves to be in the top 25 or 30 P4P based on his ability which was exceptional. His starpower and positive attention he gave the sport. His level of opposition. It was uncommon to be able to fight names likes Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Benitez among others.

I don`t think he had that consistant reign or longevity to be able go into the top 10 P4P. That covers a lot of territory and so many greats over the years.

 

It costs him some spots for sure. As Drew101 points out however he did cram quite a few rated opponents into his little lot.

 

Yeah, Leonard is a bit of a special case, because he doesn't have a long reign with lots of wins over contenders to fall back on. Rather the main part of his resume consists of a smaller number of very good wins.

So how you rank him will very much depend on if you emphasise a fighter's longevity and consistency or his top wins. In that sense he can be ranked in a wide range without it really being a question of overrating or underrating. As long as one is consistent in one's rating.

But Leonard for me is underrated by quite few on this forum, because he's held to a somewhat unique standard. He's accused of ducking someone who had never fought at WW at the time (Pryor), fighters that were relevant when he was away from boxing (Curry and Starling) and even someone who was a champion two weight classes above and whom he eventually did face (Hagler).

These claims I see quite frequently, and I feel he's alone in being held to this standard.

Every great champion will have his detractors, but in Leonard's case I think the criticism is often particularily surreal.

 

Didn't Pryor turn down a Leonard fight?

 

Excellent. I see some problems too that i'd like to add.

If he's not your favorite fighter in and around your weight class then odds are he's probably beaten your favorite. Benitez, Duran, Hearns and Hagler have a massive fanbase and many deeply fond of one or more of these may not be entirely happy with him. I'm sure many would agree there are some very long term grudges out there.

Another more minor problem is that he may be seen by some as the all American boy, with the media constantly building him up all the way from the Amateurs to almost the end of his career. This has undoubtably gained him some haters from abroad.

 

Yeah, some on here can't ****yze objectively. I won't name names (until the next paragraph) . If you want to call yourself an expert, you have to put emotions aside.

The highligted part clearly applies to Foxy. It's so easy to see that

 

I am not sure who's fault it is they never fought.

Most experts think Leonard would have won.

I don't think not fighting Pryor is a stain on Leonard's record.

Like someone said, Pryor never fought at 147 lbs until he was a coked out shell.

 

Can we agree that Hagler deserved his rematch?


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I think it's fair that a champion that loses very narrowly gets a rematch. And it's definitely a fight the fans wanted. But it gets a bit complicated by the fact that Leonard retired directly after the fight.

When Leonard eventually resurfaced the following year, a fight with Hagler would have made more sense than the whole LaLonde thing, but how keen Marvin was at that point I don't know. Him and Leonard differ in whether Hagler ever sought a rematch.

 

I doesn't really feel like there was a natural time either. 1980 was dedicated to the fights with Duran for Leonard, and when they were done Hearns was the one on the horizon. That fight happened 10 months after the rematch with Duran.

If there were no retina damage and Ray had managed to stay interested, I think the fight would have happened. After Pryor had beaten Arguello and Leonard had beaten Hearns it would have been just be too much money in it for it not too happen, I think. But you never know in boxing. Arguello want off the rails shortly after the fights with Arguello, for one thing.

But I can see Leonard collecting one last big payday at WW against Pryor and then moving up, with either a fight against Hearns or Hagler the next big stop. But only if he had stayed more interested in boxing than in women and coke.

 

Firstly. Don't flatter your pathetic little self. You and that Australian fool did indeed make yourselves look a pair of John Thomas's ( ask McVey what that means, he is both old enough, and a Londoner by birth I believe ) by claiming someone as moronic as yourselves could even begin to know as much about scoring fights as ANY professional judge.

Secondly, don't expect everyone, or indeed anyone to be as gullible, or stupid as yourself. It is well known Leonard used his " inactivity " to avoid fighters, just the same as Mayweather used his " retirement " years later. If you either don't know this, or more than likely don't WANT to know this then that is your problem. No one else's.

For a start McCallum was a S / Welter champion in 84, Leonard had already fought at the weight, and won a title in 81, yet he chose to fight Finch and Howard in 84 at Welterweight.

For the 3rd time, though your highly over inflated ego won't allow your pea sized brain to absorb it, EVERY fighter that Leonard avoided fought the majority of their fights in the US. Of the 6 names you specifically mentioned with regards to Jones Jr, 5 of them didn't.

Benn, Eubank, Collins, Rocchighiani, and Michaelczewski.

Next time you want your pants pulled down and your ass slapped let me know.

 

My understanding was the fight was in the process of getting made and then SRL found out he had retina damage and the fight never materialized. Pryor was also supposed to fight Duran, and he was between managers when an offer of 750K was presented, and as a result he hesitated and the fight passed him bye.

 

Ok. A fight between Duran, at that stage, and Pryor would have been really interesting, I think. A great fight.

 

I don't think he's overrated at all. Look back on boxing history.. There are very few champions to have beaten 3 ATG's at their pinnacle.. In Leonards case he did. Duran, Hearns and Benitez were all prime and all p4p giants.

 

I could take you slightly more seriously than a Christmas cr@cker if you didn't grab every opportunity to slag off Lewis then cry like a schoolgirl because I don't fall for typical Murican hype that thinks all that glitters is gold, as is the case with Leonard.