Leonard vs De La Hoya

Leonard decisively better in every area, more or less.

oscar i think would try and play it safe and simply be two steps behind all night.If Ray takes it at a methodical pace he can win a wide chess match type fight, or if he's in the mood for brutality i can't see Oscar having enough to stop Leonard from walking to him and firing off combinations ala Leonard vs KAlule fight.Might see Oscar on his bike and fighting to survive after some bad rounds.

Could see a stoppage some time after 8-9, most likely ref or corner waving it off to stop Oscar from further punishment.

 

Love Oscar, but Ray anywhere from a 13th round stoppage to a 11-4, 10-5 type decision.

 

:deal

 

Leonard by a very comfortable decision and possibly a clear route from the 6th-onward.

 

Leonard wasn`t a little better all around he was much better in just about every department.

First off RL was a two hand fighter. He could hurt you with either hand. Oscar couldn`t. Secondly Ray was faster and more fluid with better agility. Stamina? No comparision. Inside? No comparison.

Oscar was very tight in most of his big fights and he never really developed a ring identity. DelaHoya was a huge star no question but this is a borderline mismatch.

Oscar last the distance only if Leonard lets him. Ray was a good finisher. Bad night for Oscar.

 

I agree and Leonard could do it for 12 or 15 rounds. DeLaHoya coasted in the late rounds vs. Trinidad and it cost him the fight... even though I still think it was one of the worst decisions I've ever seen.

DeLaHoya also failed to step it up in some of his close fights... Whitaker, Quartey, Mosley x2, Sturm, and even Mayweather. He could have won all of these fights IMO. For the record I though he beat Quartey and fought Whitaker to a draw.

Sugar Ray Leonard wins by decision 116-112.

 

Nonsense, Oscar was an elite fighter and there wont be any mismatches involving him at 147. Ray was better but Oscar had assets too, his left hand was better than Ray's and his left hook might be the hardest punch between them. Ray was probably a little faster but not by that much, Oscar was extremly fast in his prime and was often compared with Ray because of this. The main difference between them is that Ray managed to make the most of his talent, whereas Oscar never really did. Like you said he never really found his ring identity.

No way is he getting stopped though, he had an iron chin, it would be a good fight with Ray pulling ahead in the later rounds and getting a clear decision.

 

Oscar was one of the best fighters in his era no question. Problem is that Ray Leonard was from a different era. Probably the toughest era in history around the Welterweight class.

Yes DelaHoya had assets. He had a good jab and that is probably the only area where he may be able to match Leonard. Ray has the advantage everywhere else. Leonard even had a better hook at `47.

This is a mismatch in my opinion not to mention if you put DelaHoya in the ring with a Welterweight Tommy Hearns it would be even worse. He may not lay a glove on Benitez if he had so much trouble with a diminished Pernell Whitaker. It`s nonsense to suggest that no one would stop DelaHoya at `47.

What we have here is a very good fighter {Oscar} though a tad overated vs the 2nd Greatest Welterweight of alltime. Leonard at the very least is a top 3 or 4 guy in that division alltime.

 

Oscar's era was also incredible, make no mistake, and he beat some elite fighters and ATGs. But yes, Sugar is IMO the best of all-time at 147, so there's no shame in losing a decision to him. If this was PRIME for PRIME, Oscar would be in there until the end, he would take Sugars best shots and his hook would get Sugars respect immediately along with oscar's great jab. Oscar wasnt used to doing 15 rounders so for a 12 round fight i take Sugar 116-112. Oscar did have the speed in his prime to keep up and does have a decent chance landing that left hook and changing the fight though.

 

lol how can he be overrated when he fought all the best competition and realistically only lost once in his actual prime, to shane mosley in a fight where oscar tried to brawl instead of out box him like he did pretty easily in the rematch. No way is Oscar overated. If the powers that be are rating him top 5 all time, Ok then, but he's a definite ATG.

 

I can't think of any way in which De la Hoya was superior to SRL. Easy UD for Leonard, or possibly a late TKO because SRL was nearly always a very strong finisher.

 

Agreed. But Oscar fought in a great era to and I don't accept that there is that big a difference between them.

I don't agree that Leonard has the better hook, but its close and we might argue that to no end. As I said, I see them as quite similar with Leonard being slightly better in most areas. But that's just it, slightly better, not enough to dominate. Oscar was good enough to box with him and strong and fast enough to slugg it out, Ray should win but it would be a competitive fight all the way.

Hearns is a different fighter, hence there would be a different outcome. Hearns would be a nightmare for anyone at 147 and I think he would outbox Oscar like he did Ray for long parts of there fight. Benitez is a fight that Oscar should win if he puts it all together, unfortunately he rarely did, I would expect a close decision either way. Why is the Whitaker fight looked upon as failure for Oscar? He took on the number 2 p4p fighter in the world as his first opponent at 147. It was a massive win.

Of course Oscar could be stopped at 147, I never said that no one could. I just don't think Ray would.

Agreed. Leonard wins, no mismatch though.

 

DLH did most things well, SRL did them even better.

DLH got all this attention over his left hook, which was excellent, but I'm not even sure it was better than Leonard's, which I think is one of the most underrated great punches in history.

Leonard by clear decision, or perhaps a late stoppage. Leonard was one of the best finishers ever.

 

see Leonard's one punch left hook ko of Davey Green. Highlight film stuff.

 

Unlike Oscar, Leonard was not averse to changing up gears late and gambling on greatness. Therein lies a monumental difference between the two.