Leonard .Vs. Hearns I. 12 Rds.

Ray is a great fighter because he beat Benitez,Duran,Hearns,Hagler. He beat 4 great fighters. If one of them beats him in a decisive match, that takes away from his legacy. Interestingly I do not think Hearns is that far behind Leonard. He fought more in the years after and won more titles and beat more top contenders while Ray beat the great guys like him. I just think Hearns beating Cueves and Benitez and knocking Duran cold and outpointing Hill, and having all those other fights makes his legacy very close to Rays. Tommy has almost 30 more fights than Ray does.

 

:good

 

I agree, Tommy also beat Cuevas who was very dangerous.

Hill was a great win.

 

I don't think it was a matter of Ray putting his foot on the pedal earlier. Tommy was the one who ran out of gas so Ray putting his foot on the pedal does nothing. Hearns had gone 13 rounds with Randy Shields already, so he had not gone 14 yet. When he fought Benitez a year later he went 15. Ray came on because Hearns got tired. If putting his foot on the pedal was all Ray had to do, why did the fight go another 8 rounds after Ray first hurt Tommy?

 

I think Ray was stalking Tommy for much of that fight and looking to hurt him without getting tagged badly in return. I think a 12 round fight changes Ray's level of urgency (putting his foot on the pedal). It may have opened him up for more shots from Hearns.
But we do know a few things about these fighters. Leonard was a supremely competitive, ruthless fighter disguised as a media made fighter. He absolutley would have attempted to do what was needed to win the fight. Tommy although a great fighter had chin issues and sometimes stamina issues. I personally think Ray still gets him out of there over 12 in the first fight. I don't completely dismiss the result of the second fight but neither fighter was at the level of 1981.
Hagler needed 3 to get Tommy and I believe Ray could've gotten it done inside of 12. He almost had him in the middle rounds.

 

Hearns by have been a bit more sucessfull, but at some point, someone was going to tag him, and beat him, probably at middleweight.Leonard, depending on how his mindset is, would either come back, and continue to win, and would definitely force a rematch at either 147, or 154.