Ring's #1 Contenders/Champs, March 1965 v March 1981

i was trying to word why it hink Leonard would win and i couldnt so i left it out. Griffith could execute a plan so well. Thing is what plan do you implement on Ray who was so versatile? Griffith was probably slightly better infighter but Ray was quicker and could get off first there so Griffith would really have to get inside and keep it there which would be quite hard.

 

I suppose I should have said that I've not seen as much of Perkins as I would like in order to make a fair judgement really. He was a superb boxer from what I HAVE seen and read, one who could have well taken advantage of Pryor's recklessness style. I'm not as sold on Pryor as some - I picked him on a snap judgement really. Pryor isn't stopping Perkins or beating him down, that much I'm sure of. But his windmill style might prove awkward to overcome. Though like I said, I need to look at Perkins a little bit more.

I picked the all of the names based more on overall achievement rather than strictly on who would beat who in a h2h sense. Otherwise a couple or three of em could have been reversed depending on your viewpoint.

 

Fair enough but Ray had a big speed edge IMO. And the first few rounds Leonard is generally harder to pn down as he darts around finding out his opponent. I see a much more cagier opening with Ray moving alot and Griffith trying to force it and get inside but the fight mostly being fought at long range.

Just think that Ray being able to get off first will help him heaps here

 

This is a good fight to watch. O'Grady boxed really well, great body punching.

 

He seemed to be fairly durable though, seeing himself through against the likes of Napoles and Hernandez. 1 TKO loss in 96 fights, and to a decent hitter at that, isn't too shabby.

Pastrano/Saad interests me, though MSM is understandly the logical pick. Pastrano was sublime even when not at his best, which was half the time really, but his lack of power coupled with Saad's relentlessness and offensive capabilities would probably spell trouble for him. Saad though was one of the most beatable of all the greats IMO.

 

Depends which Griffith shows up......if he is really pissed off, he beats Ray.

Otherwise, Luiz Rodriquez beat and/or was very close to Griffith in all the other fights. So Ray should be able to ekked out the decisions.

 

Being pissed off isn't enough on its own to beat somebody like Leonard. And on the other side of things, Rodriguez was a completely different stylist to Leonard.

 

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.......................Larry Holmes

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.......................Matthew Saad Muhammad
Joey Giardello........................

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Emile Griffith..........................Sugar Ray Leonard
Eddie Perkins.........................

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...........................Hilmer Kenty

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..........................Yasutsune Uehara
Vincente Saldivar...................

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.............................Jeff Chandler

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......................Shoji Oguma

I didn't pick between Leonard and Griffith because i found it the most difficult, i reckon Griffith has a great chance and this would be so entertaining to watch. To me Griffith might just string punches together that bit better, but Leonard would be better at doing so at vital moments such as when trying to finish a hurt opponent. Leonard to take a very close decision. Could go either way at their best imo.

And the hardest pick for me outright was Sanchez over Saldivar, not Ali over Holmes.

I'm going to watch Real Madrid with the old man now.

 

It's made my day to see somebody taking Pastrano over Saad. And it would do so again to see somebody taking Giardello over Hagler, even if he'd be the underdog.

 

dont think Giardello could do it IMO, both are complete stylists but i just think Hagler was better rounded and had a better offence

 

Muhammad Ali.......................Larry Holmes
Willie Pastrano.......................Matthew Saad Muhammad
Joey Giardello........................Marvin Hagler
Emile Griffith..........................Sugar Ray Leonard
Eddie Perkins.........................Aaron Pryor
Carlos Ortiz...........................Hilmer Kenty
Flash Elorde..........................Yasutsune Uehara
Vincente Saldivar...................Salvador Sanchez
Eder Jofre.............................Jeff Chandler
Pone Kingpetch......................Shoji Oguma


Not too sure on the others.

 

Griffith could have stood w/ anyone in welter history. he was a truly great fighter who adapted to any situation.:rasta

 

Muhammad Ali.......................Larry Holmes
Willie Pastrano.......................Matthew Saad Muhammad...Saad was past his best at this point, otherwise i'd favour him to win a close fight.

Joey Giardello........................Marvin Hagler....Giardello also past it

Emile Griffith..........................Sugar Ray Leonard

Eddie Perkins.........................Aaron Pryor...Perkins maybe slightly past his best, but i think he had the right kind of very strong, technically sound style to stand in with Pryor and beat him first time around.

Carlos Ortiz...........................Hilmer Kenty
Flash Elorde..........................Yasutsune Uehara
Vincente Saldivar...................Salvador Sanchez...very close though
Eder Jofre.............................Jeff Chandler
Pone Kingpetch......................Shoji Oguma....very close