Great match up. Floyd has the edge on speed and straight shots. Ray is tougher and hits harder. But vs greats Ray could be out boxed ( Duran / Hearns ), so Floyd could win a chess match, unless Ray forces the action.
Nobody on Mayweather's ledger to really compare to Leonard in terms of skills or style, whereas on the other hand Leonard did solve the prime Benitez puzzle relatively comfortably. Floyd is a level higher than Benitez, but that, along with Ray's natural size and power advantages, mean that I'd favour him, just. I think anyone expecting Leonard to be on the run and pot-shotting on the outside all night would be in for a surprise. I think he'd have the confidence to try and stay in close to Leonard and deny Leonard that leverage to get that power in to his punches for prolonged periods. But Leonard had perhaps even faster hands than Floyd and I don't think Mayweather can jolt and jarr Leonard with his shots in close the way Duran did. If Mayweather is at range then his counters and jab will definitely catch Leonard and leave him hitting thin air a few times, but Ray was such an incredible offensive fighter and his speed and power is on a different planet to anything Mayweather has experienced. Floyd will work plenty of defensive magic, but I think he'll have quite a hard time getting in to the fight from an attacking point of view. Might be hard for him to impress the judges. Leonard ain't gonna make the same mistake Oscar made in the championship rounds of coming forward without actually letting the shots go; he had excellent stamina, a proven 15-round fighter, and as the fight wears on I think Leonard will prevent Floyd from getting his feet planted enough to really get enough clean shots off. Mayweather has to box in this one, whereas as a Welter / Light-Middleweight Leonard showed that he could feint you out of your game (Benitez), turn slugger when he needed to (Hearns, Kalule), stick and move on the back foot (Duran II) and had genuine, big-time knockout power (Green). His record just shows that he could find a way even if there didn't appear to be one, and his versatility and fire power makes it ever so slightly too tall a task for Mayweather in my mind. Leonard by close, but not controversial, decision.
/thread I only disagree with it being close. SRL by wide margin as floyd stays in his shell all night and gets out worked. Too big too fast and too skilled for Floyd's style to work ala his usual opponents.
Leonard is a natural welter and was prime at that weight. Floyd began life as a featherweight and didn't end up at welter until he was already in his thirties. I have to go with Ray on that alone.
Ray Leonard and possibly late rd stoppage. his speed is in PBF`s ballpark and I actually feel SRL had better footwork. Defensively PBF is sharper, but a big part of that is due to SRL`s willingness to do what is needed to win. Power, forget it, not in the same league. But the real reason why SRL takes this fight is first, he`d actually sign for it where as I don`t think PBF would ever put pen to paper to fight him. And he would take Floyd wher he has never been before. Working behind a hard agrresive jab,SRL would work his way inside and land the body shots that took the life out of Hearns. he would also walk (and I mean walk) right through PBF`s shots to deliver his own brand of powershots. This comes donw to a wills and skills kind of fight, a fight that PBF does NOT have the stomach (or chin) for. bear in mind that an old Mosely rocked PBF badly in their fight. If PBF ever finds himself hurt like that against Leonard, fights over...
Would be a fine fight. I see Ray's power and more naturally prime larger size being decisive factors here.
I agree with this analysis. But, Floyd would never take a fight against a prime SRL. And, this thread has been done about 50 times before.
at welter, Ray by split dec pound for pound however, it's Floyd by a countrywide mile (see Norris-Ray Leonard)
Outboxed by Duran? I don't think so. Leonard beat Benitez who was a better boxer than Duran. SRL beats Mayweather at 147lbs, it's 'his natural weight, not many could beat Ray at Welter.
Bar pure defensive work, Leonard matches/betters Mayweather in every way at 147. I also can't help but think that if Judah and Mosley could catch and hurt Floyd, Leonard would be able to do a lot more than that.
I'd pick SRL without a doubt. I think he's at a different level in terms of punching power and ability to absorb punches. Put another way I can't imagine Floyd stopping and/or beating Hearns, SRL did. Absence these two qualities however, their skill sets are pretty similar.
Leonard was bigger and better. If they were naturally the same size, I pick Leonard by close decision.
