Leonard-LaLonde: Underrated or Overrated?

very overrated in its build up, but ultimately good enough to watch (leonard was always spirited even when old).

Lalonde wasn't much. overrated looking back.

 

I like watching this one. The two titles thing and Lalonde's weight were BS, but it turned out to be a great fight. Ray showed again that when he turned tiger, he could be pretty devastating.
The finish of Lalonde was excellent as well...

 

I voted it the 'Is what it is' category.


Pretty good fight. Leonard sucked it up early on and came back to ko Lalonde.


I ignore the Light Heavy angle because,as been said,it was made at the 168 lb limit.

 

Nunn vs Tate was a good scrap. Starling vs Breland II was a good fight, though the verdict stunk. And yes Brown vs Trice was good too. I can't remember every fight that I saw that year, but those are the ones that stand out.

 

Thats really ALL that needs to be said about the farce.

 

I thought the fight was very good with a lot of action. I think it's classy for Lalonde not to use the excuse he was weight drained, although he probably was to an extent. He was a tall, lean guy and it must have taken a little out of him to make weight.

I noticed that after controlling the first 5 rounds, Lalonde was running out of gas. His breathing was heavier and his punches were slowing down. He used up the last of his energy trying for the KO in the 9th round and when he didn't get it, he had nothing left.

The bottom line though was that Ray was not just physically better but he was mentally stronger as well. He simply wouldn't let himself lose this fight.

 

Top notch 'event'. It was big in the UK, so I am guessing it was pretty huge in the States and Canada. And although many feared a mismatch, Lalonde was a bit better than I thought, and his Sweetness had slipped enough to make it a good fight.

 

follow up on what I posted earlier...I chat to donny a bit on facebook....this is what he had to say when I couldnt find the old message I was referencing earlier in the thread.

........

I lost 27 lbs to make the weight for the fight. That being said that is because of my gaining weight between fights. I feel the weight of 168 was ok for me if I came in at 168, dried out from two days of not drinking but filling back up after the weigh in I would have weighed 177. 168 wasn't the problem, over training and coming in at 162 which I did caused me the problem.

 

162? How could he & his team be so careless in tracking his weight?

It seems if he came in at the max who knows who would have taken it. The SRL "will" may not have won it, if one gay is exhausted early-& may have had less zip throughout-from coming in somewhat lower than a weight that already was a stretch for him, that likely was the difference.

 

There are but a handful of fights that I point to, where finishing a foe, is a work of art. In this underrated bout, Ray Leonard demonstrated what a thorough, hurtful finish, actually is.