Leonard - Best Boxer In Last 30 Yrs

Since 30 years ago was 1977 and Duran did good work prior to that time, I would have Leonard as the best since that time period, followed by Duran, Whitaker, and Hagler.

 

it would have been better if leonard could add Norris to his resume. even a respectable loss would make him stand out more. personally, I have him at #41

 

we've been thru this before Pea. you know that i said i saw little or no visual evidence of this decline you keep talking about. Hagler's the one who looked like he hit bottom, not Ray so to me, Ray lost that fight because he couldn't handle a fighter with that kind of speed and who could hit that sharp. Leonard doesn't like to get hit by fast, hard hitting fighters. that's why he sat out the most important years from the 80's.

 

Leonard wasn't just years past his prime, but he hadn't made 154lbs for 7 years before sharing a ring with Norris.

 

Robbi, first I hear how leonard never fought at 160 before meeting Hagler. Fair enough but to bring up having weight issues at a weight he challenged Terry for doesn't make sense.

What weight is leonard supposed to be fighting at? 147? 154? 160? 168?

and trying to blame deterioration as the reason makes for a nice argument but I've never seen the evidence based on performance, especially in lihgt of his brilliant performance in uno mas. that was proof that ray was as good as he'd ever been.

 

tobkhan you have good taste in women

 

Many people say Duran was either past it or just showed up for a paycheck in Uno Mas, so that fight isn't a good indication of how much Leonard had left.

 

true but ray leonard's ability to be up on his toes is without question. he never seemed to tire the way you'd expect from someone his age. and the combinations were still lightning fast as they were with norris but terry is always on the move so he doesn't get hit like the others. hitting terry is harder than hitting a cloud.

 

:good

 

you probably still believe ray won two titles in one night two even though he only had one opponent in front of him who owned just one title.

the ray leonard of october 1980 as compared with the ray leonard from september of the following year? thanks for proving my point.

duran was ill prepared for that one and shouldn't have been fighting. you need to see the inside man about that one-randy gordon. so of course leonard is going to look good, very good. i can see why it would cause some to think he was so good, so fast that he was a blur next to duran, making him the best fighter of the last 30 years. if and only if duran was healthy.

but we all know he wasn't. Hearns was though. a little light but more mobile than the bloated, plodding duran of new orleans.

the hearns fight, leonard was far less impressive because he was facing an opponent with some movement and good speed.

it wasn't the kind of speed that norris possessed. no fighter had that kind of speed-not even meldrick taylor himself but tommy still enough speed and good basic boxing skills to trouble leonard.

Tommy had at the time, a good jab and right cross combinations along with some body work. but no left hook the way norris used it which is the punch he used to destroy leonard.

you say ray leonard was gone or at least that's what you're trying to prove to yourself. you can't prove it to me because i've proven it false time and time and time again and will continue to do so in the future. I'll bet you can't even tell me what was wrong with leonard prior to the fight with norris.

you need proof if you're going to debate with critics like me. I've seen all of the modern greats in decline and i've been able to catch the signs of deterioration, when they start to digress. they say the first thing to go are the legs of a fighter and from what i saw in uno mas was a man who showed the legs of a man in his early 20's. ray leonard was a well preserved athlete if nothing else. all the years of not fighting kept him from an early decline. but even so, he was no match for my man Norris.

you're upset because my man drilled him no problem and ray didn't know how to fight back. even tho he was a legend and norris was nobody at the time, it was norris who fought like the legend. leonard fought as best as he knows how but he isn't in norris' class as a fighter and remember who has the bragging rights.

I also think you have a lot of nerve to claim leonard has bragging rights over Hagler because he won a disputed split decision and yet deny Norris' claims after slamming him round after round. I certainly wouldn't have the balls to make the claims you make. where do you get all your nerve?

 

butcher, who is the originator of this thread, thinks he beat the same duran from montreal and that the change in tactics allowed him to change the outcome. that's what he thinks.

Upon closer examination of the facts, it clearly was a case of duran being in terrible shape, melting down from 190 pounds that enabled leonard to fight his fight the second time around.

if duran were in the same shape the same thing is going to happen as before; duran's going to put the hurt on him, intimidate him as he did the first time, and win more decisively (KO magazine rematch rule).

but according butcher, he thinks that rematch and leonard's 9 round tko over some guy kalule is impressive enough to put him at the head of the pack. what's more, he has the nerve to actually brag about it to me, his toughest critic.

 

Leonard was on the slide when he met Norris,that should be factored into the result,you talk about the fight as though Leonard was in his prime.

 

Youve seen all the greats in decline,yes?Norris,s big wins over a Don Curry ,who had lost two of his last four fights,and after losing to Norris retired,,a thirty five year old Leonard who had struggled to draw with Hearns and hadnt fought in over a year,a thirty yearold weight drained Mugabi,who also retired after their fight ,these are fighters that were in decline,I dont see anything special in Norris,s resume,his period at the time was very brief ,he came along at the right time when better fighters were on the way out,thems the breaks ,but I dont see an ATG.