Shugar Ray Leonard v Henry Armstrong prime for prime at 147???

wtf?? is this some kind of bad joke?

 

Which is it?

Leonard did not stand toe-to-toe with anybody. He stood there like a boxer, and was forced into a certain fight by the better man.

I'd be interested to know what you do classify him as, if not a boxer. Boxer/puncher might be stretching it a bit.

 

He was a boxer-puncher, no boxer. :bart

He can, but I don´t think he would.

That´s not true. Watch the comments before ans shortly after the first fight against Duran by Leonard and Dundee. It was their plan to stand up to Duran and not box him. That´s not only in the books but also on camera!

Nah, boxer-puncher is the perfect description of Leonard.

 

Leonard 2 out of 3 but they are all close fights IMO. Both are all-time P4P greats no doubt!

Leonard fought far less fights but he fought quality in Benitez, Hearns x2, Duran x3, and Hagler among others.

 

Leonard could box brilliantly as well, as he showed when he out-classed Benitez in that regard during their fight.

 

I don't have a problem with calling Leonard either a boxer or a boxer-puncher but it would be a mistake to think his usual style was to fight like he did against Duran in the rematch or against Hagler. He was usually more aggressive, set his feet to punch and really wanted to get his opponent out of there.

 

Yep and he certainly would do so against a smaller guy like Armstrong but that would play right into Armstrong´s hands and lead to a win for him. Leonard may adept and win a rematch but he ain´t winning the first one. :bart

 

SRL was too solid and fast with savvy at 147 pounds in 1981 / '82 for a guy like Hank Armstrong......

The Leonard that TKO'd "Tommy Hearns" and "Bruce Finch" at 147 pounds was peaked and unbeatable in late 1981 and early 1982.......

MR.BILL

 

H.A. keeps pressure on SRL like no other sd for H.A.

 

Arguable. I for one think Armstrong lacks the footspeed to close the distance like Duran was able to in the first fight. That played more of a role in the pace than anything Leonard did wrong, in my opinion. Duran feinted Ray silly.

 

True. Leonard went into the fight to stand up to Duran but I always wondered why he did not adjust in the fight. If you watch it he tries to box at times but Duran doesn´t let him. Duran get´s off first and forces him to brawl again. Duran was the boss in there.
Against Armstrong it would be differrent. I don´t think Armstrong would need to force Leonard to go toe to toe to him. Leonard would do so because Armstrong would be the smaller man. And he would have success early on which would just confirm his plan. And when Armstrong is taking over it will be too late for him to adjust.
I really can see Leonard winning a series 2-1. But he ain´t winning the first one.

 

There is plenty of footage on youtube.

Also search for the Armstrong thread Manassa made on him over here. That was really great.

edit:
here is the thread: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=182240